


A New Obsession

by HeadOfSpectre



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: Cunnilingus, F/F, Love Triangles, NSFW, Romance, Strap-Ons, Tribadism, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-18
Updated: 2018-09-18
Packaged: 2018-11-15 14:34:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 16
Words: 51,559
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11233026
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HeadOfSpectre/pseuds/HeadOfSpectre
Summary: After a battle goes horribly wrong, Tharja becomes enamored with the Pegasus Knight who risked her life to save hers. Although her new obsession becomes complicated by a rival for her affections, and an unexpected love triangle.





	1. The Rescue

**Author's Note:**

> I just wanted some damn fanfiction for this ship... and well you know the old saying. If you want something done right... Well, not right, but to your own personal liking.
> 
> At time of writing, this fic isn't finished. But if I'm actually posting this shambles, then I probably actually will finish it. Oh well. Hope you enjoy.

                One thing that Tharja always counted on was her ability to read people. She’d taken a certain pride in being very, very good at it. It’d never once occurred to her that she’d be wrong about someone, but then again, perhaps that was just a byproduct of youth and its arrogance.

            The Plegian mage had lived for nineteen years on the bleak day when she’d joined the Shepherds. She’d had plenty of reasons to forsake the army she’d originally joined up in. Mandatory conscription, those damned flimsy bodysuits they insisted be worn on the battlefield, her own dislike of King Gangrel and the near inevitable fact that Chrom and his reported wonder Tactician stood a better chance of winning than the side she’d found herself on. She’d have been an absolute fool not to join the Shepherds! It didn’t hurt that their Tactician, an enigmatic woman by the name of Robin was… special… or at least she’d thought she was.

            Robins intellect had gained her admiration, and the thing about Tharja’s admiration was that it was not earned easily, and it was consuming. She’d been obsessed with the woman for almost a year now, despite her paying her only moderate attention whenever she was around.

Maybe that obsession was what got her where she was now, which was in the middle of a cottage in a small village sacked by bandits, nursing an arrow wound in her side, and with the voices of her pursuers drawing ever closer. It didn’t take a genius to figure out why she’d been sent into such a dangerous position. She was bait for whatever Robin’s grand strategy was, and she was furious about it.

She kept her hand pressed to the wound just below her ribs, trying to control her breathing. Her bloodied fingers frantically turned the pages of her Nosferatu tome. She’d wasted her last vulnerary earlier in the battle as a favor to Lon’qu, who’d been wounded by that same damned archer, and the bandit had seen fit to inflict on her what she’d cured on someone else. It only went to show that when you acted selfless, you got hurt.

     “Blood trail ends here…” Said a gruff voice outside the door, “Go around the back… it’s too easy.”  
If cursing wouldn’t have revealed her position, Tharja would have uttered a few foul words to that. There was more than one of them, and she couldn’t hex two men coming at her from two different directions. She barely had the strength to keep her eyes open.

            No. She couldn’t let her precious Robin down… her precious Robin who’d sent her here, knowing she’d be a sitting duck. Maybe this really was the end? Had she been abandoned?

            She heard footsteps around the back of the cottage she’d taken refuge in, before the door creaked open.  
   “Come out, come out kid…” The bandit called, and as soon as he did, she saw the door handle closer to her twitching. The bandits companion was about to enter the cottage as well. She readied her tome, determined to fight to the end if need be. Nobody was going to kill her and live to tell about it!

            The door opened, she saw a figure appear in the door, and she prepared her spell. But in the moment before she could cast it, there was a sound of something in the wind. The bandit who’d just come in whirled around in place before a lance was thrust through the door, and through his chest, ending his life before he could even think of reacting.

            From outside, a horse cried out, and bandit who’d entered through the back door came sprinting into the room. Her spell still prepared, Tharja caught him off guard. The dark magic ripped the life from his corpse, and restored just enough energy to keep her alert, but hardly did anything to help her wound. The bandit collapsed to the ground, in the mere moment before someone else entered the cottage.

            Now this was a familiar face. Long crimson hair and the lightweight metal armor of a Pegasus Knight, with red highlights as a personal touch. Cordelia brandished her lance at the second dead bandit, confirming the kill before searching for Tharja. The weakened mage tried to stand, and Cordelia was quick to help her up.  
   “Took your sweet time…” Tharja rasped, “Another minute and you’d have wasted your time coming here…”  
    “The archers had us pinned down.” Cordelia replied quickly, “You’re alright. Here, are you wounded? I have some vulnerary.”

            Tharja snatched it from her hand and gulped it down as Cordelia half walked, half dragged her outside, where her Pegasus waited.  
    “Here, can you get on?” She asked.  
    “I’ll try.” Tharja could only barely pull herself up onto the animal, while Cordelia got up with a deft grace. “Please tell me we’re going to see a healer.”  
    “I promise, I’m taking you to Libra.” Cordelia replied, and to that Tharja had no response. She just held onto the Pegasus Knight as her mount took to the skies. With the adrenaline of nearly dying fading, Tharja rested her head limply against her shoulder, before passing out.

 

            Cordelia could feel Tharja slipping away against her back, and gripped the reigns of her Pegasus tighter. She cursed under her breath, hoping like hell they could make it to the medical tent in time. She remembered Robin calling out to her as she’d broke rank. The Tactician had understandably been more focused on saving civilian lives than saving Tharja’s, and while that was all well and good, Cordelia refused to let another comrade die, even if it was for the greater good. Robin would simply need to understand that.

            A few arrows whizzed past her mount, upsetting the Pegasus which tried to bank left. She fought it with all her might, and could feel Tharja’s limp body slipping away from her.  
   “No… no… no… damnit…”  
Her hand left the reign to grip the woman’s arm, saving her from plummeting to certain death. That lapse in concentration proved to be a window for the archer who’d targeted her. She felt her mount seize up beneath her and heard it loose a startled cry. Its wings stopped moving, and in an instant, Cordelia became acquainted with the concept of falling rather than flying.

            For a moment she panicked, and if there ever was a moment to panic, this was certainly it: She was on a dying Pegasus, with a dying woman behind her, on her way towards a tree line with Naga only knew what beneath it. Her hands left the reigns to grab at Tharja and as the Pegasus broke through the canopy, Cordelia was thrown from her mount. Her eyes squeezed shut and she could only hear the rustling of leaves, and the snap of branches as she tumbled to the ground. She let out a cry of pain as her shoulder struck a hard branch, and Tharja’s limp body tumbled from her grasp. The two of them landed gracelessly on either side of the tree that had broken her fall, while her now dead Pegasus had crashed a few meters away, luckily breaking its frail neck on impact and sparing it any further suffering.

            Cordelia lay on her back for what felt like an hour, seeing bright stars in her vision. Her head was throbbing and a dull ringing sounded in her ears. Slowly, she rolled onto her stomach, and spotted Tharja a few feet away. She tried to stand, but her legs failed her. Were they broken? Oh Gods she hoped not…

            Her arms still worked however, and she started to crawl towards Tharja’s limp form. The woman was still breathing, although she looked paler than usual. Cordelia left her where she lay, and rested against the tree, mentally assessing herself for injuries. She pried off some of her armor, just to see the extent of the damage, and lighten the load on herself. Her lance had broken in the crash, but the blade was still good. The bottles of vulnerary she’d kept on her person had all shattered though, and some of the glass had embedded itself in her thigh. She tried to move her leg, but the pain quickly convinced her to stop.

            Cordelia glanced over towards the direction they’d come from. She could hear the voices of bandits coming to confirm the kill, and swore again under her breath. Staying here was not an option. These men hadn’t thought twice about attacking a village, and when the Shepherds had arrived, they’d wasted little time before they started executing the innocent. She doubted they’d suddenly develop the ability to show compassion on a couple of wounded soldiers.

            Despite the protests of her lacerated leg, Cordelia forced herself to stand, and pried off her gauntlets before working on lifting Tharja over her shoulder. Gods every attempt to move caused unimaginable pain, and she gritted her teeth to prevent herself from screaming, but she couldn’t leave the woman there to die. Not after she’d come this far.

            Panting, in agony and gripping the broken off tip of her lance like a dagger, Cordelia began to trudge through the brush, carrying Tharja and herself to safety.

 

   “Damnit she’s down…”  
The news struck Chrom like a slap in the face, and Robin seemed less than thrilled by it herself. Beside them, Frederick looked troubled by the information he’d just relayed.  
   “Our eyes on that part of the village report that he spotted a couple of troops moving into the woods. Probably to confirm the kill.”  
   “Can we get anyone out there?” Chrom asked, looking at Robin nervously.  
   “Maribelle’s close, but she’ll need an escort.” Robin replied, “I can pair her with Vaike, but I can’t guarantee we’ll get there before they do.”  
   “Just do it!” Chrom demanded, and Robin simply nodded before Frederick left to relay the order.  
   “We should have known they’d have archers in the tower… how did we let that one slide by us…”  
   “They must’ve been hidden in the upper levels. I suspect they could be using it as a barracks.” Robin replied, “Damnit… this has all gone to hell. I’d hoped Tharja and Lon’qu would have been able to move fast enough to draw their attention away from the villagers, but that hardly worked. Cordelia broke rank to save Tharja and now she’s down.”  
   “I should have gone instead of them.” Chrom murmured, “They’d have paid attention to me.”  
   “Perhaps… I’d like to know who the hell is organizing these dastards, because this is beyond the other bandits we’ve dealt with. This is beyond even Gangrel or the Grimleal!”  
    “On that we’re agreed…” Chrom said, gesturing to Robin to go and rejoin the troops with him.  
Stahl and Sully were seeing the last of the villagers to safety, while Miriel, Gregor, Donnel and Gaius had fought the pursuing bandits into a stalemate. From a high ridge to the south, Virion forced the other side into cover, with an arrow to punish any head that dared poke out to observe them.

    “We need to push to the tower… do something to distract from Maribelle and Vaike.” Robin decided, “The sooner we take those archers out, the better… then we can at least get Sumia in the air.”

   “I can lead a charge with Kellam.” Chrom offered, and Robin considered for a moment before nodding.  
   “Do it. We can rally Miriel, Virion and Ricken and cover you from up high. Take Gregor and Donnel with you, and I’ll send Frederick, Stahl and Sully in to flank from the left side of town. You can meet in the village square. That should be enough of a diversion…”

    “It works for me.” Chrom hastily drew Falchion, before moving to join the others, and Robin watched him go with a frown.  
    “Stay safe…” She murmured, before going her own way.

 

            Cordelia stumbled and faltered on her way back towards where she recalled they’d made camp. She was panting, and felt ready to keel over. Tharja was hardly a heavy woman, but to the weakened Cordelia, she was nothing but dead weight. She might as well have tried to lift her Pegasus over her head for all the good it did her. But she persisted.

    “Spread out! Find them!” A voice called in the distance, and Cordelia glanced back. She felt her heart race as she found the strength to press on again. Her vision was blurry, she needed to get out of here…

            She felt Tharja stirring on her back, and heard the woman let out a weak groan. She was rousing, but only briefly. She’d lapse back into unconsciousness soon enough.  
   “Just a little further…” Cordelia reminded herself, even though it was nothing but a blatant lie. “Just… little… further…”  
She could hear movement behind her, and the sound of galloping hooves. Her heart sank. They had horsemen… She’d never outrun horsemen.  
    “Slow down! We’re supposed to be looking!” A voice called, and Cordelia set Tharja down, before lowering herself and readying the tip of her lance.

            She could see movement between the trees, men on foot. Bandits no doubt. They were wandering closer. She counted three, although two of them split off, leaving only one drawing closer to her.

            Cordelia remained deathly still, and low to the ground. She concealed herself behind a fallen log. A piss poor disguise that would be revealed the instant the bandit drew closer, but it’d do for the time being.

            The moment she knew they spotted her, Cordelia threw herself at them. She couldn’t close the distance as fast as she’d have liked, but she could do it fast enough to plunge her lance into the bandits throat and silence him. His death cry drew the attention of his two companions who rushed to their brothers aid and vengeance. She saw one with a hatchet, and the other with a sword. Her broken lance was little more than a glorified dagger.  
    “Take her head for that!” The one with the hatchet snarled. They were both coming, and Cordelia tried to stand, only for the pain in her leg to send her down on a knee. The hatchet rose, ready to come down right between her eyes, and she could only kneel and watch…

            But before the end could come, the bandits war cry turned into an agonized shriek. A bolt of fire struck his face, sending him clumsily stumbling backwards. His companion froze, and Cordelia took advantage of his hesitation to weakly slash at him, cutting across his stomach and hurting him, but not killing him. The sword wielding bandit staggered back a few steps while his hatchet wielding peer clutched at his burnt face.

            The wounded Tharja rested half draped over the log, spell tome on the ground, and vision blurry. She’d done the best she could given the situation, and she quickly blacked out once more. Her efforts gave Cordelia all the time she needed though. The wounded Pegasus Knight forced herself up, slashing with the tip of her lance wildly, to drive back her attacker. The bandit tried to parry, but his technique was clumsy. He was a murderer, but not a fighter. Even weakened, Cordelia was still able to overpower him and end his life. As for the last bandit, killing him was done more as an act of mercy than malice. The flames hadn’t killed him, but they had done more damage than he deserved to live with.

            With the skirmish over, Cordelia traded the broken lance for the dead bandits sword, and limped back to Tharja’s side.  
    “Please tell me you’re still alive…”

    “That depends… am I in hell…” Tharja murmured, “What happened… where…”  
    “I got unlucky… I’m still getting you out of here.” Cordelia replied, “Can you walk?” She asked hopefully. Tharja blinked slowly.  
     “Don’t… know… you’re hurt.”  
     “Like I said, I got unlucky…” Cordelia repeated, and paused as she heard a horse again. “No… no… Naga, please no…”

            Tharja simply sighed, and weakly reached for her tome.

            The two wounded Shepherds sat there, awaiting their fate until finally, they saw what was coming for them. At least it wasn’t a bandit.

            The flash of pink through the trees would’ve been recognizable anywhere. Maribelle announced her presence without even a word, with her flamboyant colors, although when she laid eyes on them, she spoke nonetheless.  
    “Oh my stars! There you are!” She cried. Riding with her was Vaike, who’d brought a second horse along behind them. He quickly dismounted her horse, while Maribelle tended to Cordelia.  
    “Bruises… that leg needs a proper looking at, but I can do something about the pain…” She murmured, before going for her staff.

            Cordelia didn’t protest as Maribelle used some light healing magic on her, and let out a sigh of relief as she felt the pane start to fade.  
    “You’re lucky you didn’t get yourself killed!” Maribelle scolded as she went to examine Tharja, “Robin sent me the moment she saw you went down! I was worried sick! Sumia must be worried sick! You just _had_ to go play hero though…”

            She used a spell on Tharja to keep her stable, before allowing Vaike to lift the battered Dark Mage up onto the spare horse. Maribelle helped Cordelia to her feet, and let her mount up.  
    “Have I lost us the battle…” Cordelia asked timidly.  
    “I should think not.” Maribelle replied, but glanced expectantly at Vaike who mounted up behind her.  
    “Don’t ask me! I ain’t one of the bigshots!” The Fighter insisted, “Come on, let’s not waste any time. Last thing we need is more brigands on our tails…”

            On that there was a consensus.

The two horses, with their four passengers tirelessly hurried through the trees, leading them back to camp. Cordelia felt an overwhelming tiredness overtake her, but she felt herself starting to calm at last.

            They’d at least gotten out of this alive.

 

            It wasn’t until after the battle that Cordelia would see hide nor hair of Chrom and Robin.  
The newly crowned Exalt hurried to her bedside immediately, nearly brushing aside the healer who was busy picking the glass out of her thigh.  
    “Cordelia! Thank the Gods, you’re alive! When we saw you go down outside the village, I was worried that may have been the end of you!”  
The woman tried not to blush, and failed spectacularly.  
    “It… it’s nothing, my Pegasus didn’t survive the attack, but I’m alright.”  
    “I’m sorry… I know you cared for it deeply.” Chrom said, “You have my condolences.”  
Most commanders would’ve brushed off the casualty of the animal as ‘just a dumb beast’ but oh Chrom… he knew what the creatures meant to their riders. The death of her Pegasus, while an unfortunate loss had not been simply brushed off by Cordelia.  
    “I’ll be alright. She didn’t suffer at least.” The Knight insisted, before wincing as the healer drew a particularly long shard of glass from her flesh.  
   “T-thank you, Commander. I apologize for breaking rank like I did. It’s my fault all of this happened…”  
    “We might have lost Tharja if you hadn’t.” Robin pointed out, “On top of that, your diversion drew some of their forces away from the villagers. I think that given the fact that your insubordination saved more lives than you would have if you’d followed orders, we’re going to pretend it didn’t happen. Still, it was reckless and I’m glad you’re okay.”

            Tharja… Cordelia glanced between Robin and Chrom.  
    “Is Tharja alright? She was in bad shape when I found her.”  
    “She’s lost a lot of blood. But she’ll live. I’m taking her off active combat duty until she recovers. Same as you.” Robin explained, “Don’t think of it as a punishment. You were both seriously wounded… I’d rather see you take the time and recover, as opposed to going and getting hurt all over again.”

            Cordelia knew they weren’t lying, but she couldn’t help but frown. She hated the idea of being removed from duty for any reason at all, but then again without a Pegasus and with her wounds, even if they’d heal quickly, she wasn’t in much of a fighting state.  
   “Just rest and recover. I’m as proud of you as ever, Cordelia.” Chrom assured her with a smile, and she couldn’t help but smile back at him.  
   “Thank you milord…I- I aim to please.”  
    “Just rest. That’s an order… now I believe you have someone else who’s been dying to visit you, so I won’t keep you.”

            He gestured to Robin for them to leave, and as soon as they left the medical tent, a frantic Sumia entered. She stumbled in her gait, before righting herself.  
   “C-Cordelia!” She squeaked, “I’ve been waiting outside for Chrom and Robin to be done! Are you alright? What happened to your Pegasus? Is Aurora okay? I didn’t see her come back with you… she… she wasn’t hurt when she went down, right?”

From the trembling tone of Sumia’s voice, she already knew that Cordelia’s Pegasus hadn’t survived, but ever the animal lover, she would blatantly deny its death until it was confirmed.

    “Aurora didn’t make it.” Cordelia said gravely, “The impact… she didn’t suffer, but I  had to leave her to get myself to safety.”  
Sumia’s expression darkened.  
   “Oh… Cordelia… I… I’m sorry.”  
She knelt down by her bedside, across from the healer who tended her, and gingerly took her hand. “She’ll be missed.”  
   “I know she will.” Cordelia sighed, “I’ll miss her but… she did all she could.”  
The death of a Pegasus was never easy. Some never flew again after they lost their mounts. To fly on such an animal required a deep, personal bond with them. To someone like Sumia, that bond came naturally, and Cordelia knew she could befriend and get a new mount. But it’d never replace the one she’d just lost.

            Sumia’s head rested on the blankets of the cot Cordelia rested on, and she heaved a few dry sobs for the fallen animal. The healing mage rose up, paying little mind to Sumia as she cried. Cordelia rested a hand on her friends head, sinking her fingers into her hair, while the Healer spoke to her.  
   “That should be the last of the glass. There might be a small scar, but otherwise, with the magic and vulnerary, it should be healed up by tomorrow.

    “Thank you.” Cordelia forced a smile, before looking back to Sumia.  
    “It’ll be alright...” She assured her, better the Pegasus than her. As selfish a thought as that was to think, and as guilty as she felt thinking it, it still rang true. Pegasi were notoriously bad at wielding lances.  
   “Y-yeah… I’ll go with you back to the castle! We can get a new Pegasus for you! There are plenty in the stables.”  
She knew it wasn’t as easy as just hopping on an animal and flying off into the sunset, but the words made her feel a little better.  
   “I’m just glad you’re safe, and alive. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be here sniveling like a child.”

   “If positions were reversed, I’d probably be doing the exact same thing.” Cordelia assured her, and pulled her into a gentle hug. The pain in her hip had mostly subsided thankfully.


	2. Home

She’d spend a few hours in Sumia’s company, letting the younger Knight try and cheer her up with stories, food and pies she’d somehow found time to bake after the battle. Eventually however, Sumia would leave to join the rest of the Shepherds in the mess tent for supper, leaving Cordelia alone in the medical tent. Or at least… well enough alone.  
The woman tried to get some rest. After such an exhausting ordeal, she needed it. Slumber would be denied to her by shifting movement elsewhere in the tent. She cracked an eye open, looking towards the far side of her closed off area of the tent, and saw a figure moving behind the curtain. She sat up, wondering if perhaps Sumia had returned. What she saw instead, was someone else.  
Tharja swept the curtain aside casually. The wound in her side was bandaged, and she moved with notable ease now. Her skin had gone from a deathly pale to its more natural pale shade, which at least she was recovering. For several moments she stared at Cordelia without saying a word. The Knight would need to break the silence herself.  
“You’re looking better.” She said, offering a smile. “That’s good to see.”  
“Healing magic and painkillers work wonders when applied correctly.” Tharja replied, “They say I’m fortunate to still be alive… and that you broke formation to grab me back there.” She paused.   
“Why? We don’t know each other. You didn’t have any reason to rescue me.”  
“We’re on the same side, aren’t we?” Cordelia asked, “We’re fighting for the same cause. I thought one less casualty would be a good thing.”   
“And for that, I’m grateful. But that still doesn’t explain why. Nobody sane throws themselves into danger out of the kindness of their heart. Your actions carried reason. Purpose. I want to know what it was. I want to know why.”  
Cordelia pursed her lips, as Tharja’s dark eyes remained fixed on her.  
“Before I joined the Shepherds, I was part of a squad of Pegasus Knights.” She began. “They were my friends. My comrades. My sisters. Back during the war, when Gangrel took the capital, we were one of the last lines of defense outside the gates. We were supposed to be the cavalry. The guard was failing, good soldiers dying left and right. We came in just like the Knights in the old stories, flying over the wall, lances in hand, coming down against the enemy. We thought it might be enough, but Gangrel was smarter than we realized. They had mages and archers. We fought as long as we could but we never stood a chance. In the end, with most of my sisters dead, my commander told me to retreat. Flee, find the Royal Family and guard them. I got scared, I followed my orders but I didn’t want to.”  
She sighed, and received nothing but attentive silence from the other woman in the room.  
“Later on I found out that my unit was entirely wiped out. They fought to the last breath. All of them except for me. I was ordered not to die... Sometimes, I dream about them. I hear them all over again. The battle, the chaos… I can hear their screams as they were shot down... I don’t want to lose any more good soldiers, or see any more lives cut short on a battlefield. Not if I can help it.”   
Tharja was silent for several moments, thinking about something else.  
“So that’s why you came for me? Some misguided phobia of losing soldiers?” She paused, recognizing the harshness of her words.  
“I’m sorry, that was… rude. I appreciate what you did. I suppose this means I owe you…” She sighed, “Thank you.”  
“You don’t owe me anything.” Cordelia replied, “I didn’t do it so you’d ‘owe’ me. I just don’t want anyone else to die.”  
“All the same, you have my gratitude.” Tharja said. “You were injured very badly out there… I’m sure the healers have tended to you but… if you need something…”  
“No. I’m alright. Just tired.” Cordelia said, laying back down. “I appreciate the offer, though. I just need some bedrest before they ship us back out to the barracks tomorrow.”   
On that point, Tharja silently agreed. She cast a long, lingering gaze at the Pegasus Knight, before shuffling back to her own cot to rest. 

Come morning, Chrom had arranged for those wounded to be sent back to Ylissitol along with a returning supply convoy. It felt strange riding along with a carriage, as opposed to ruling the skies, unbound and free, but Cordelia dealt with it. What was harder to deal with, was Chrom and Robin arriving to see her off personally.   
“Cordelia!” Robin called, as she boarded the back of the carriage. “Good! We caught you before you left.”  
“Is something the matter?” She asked, dutiful as ever, and half hoping for a last minute reprieve on the order to send her home.  
“Nothing at all. Chrom and I just wanted to say goodbye.” The Tactician assured her, before smiling. “We’ll see you back in the Capital.”  
“Have a safe trip, alright.” Chrom said, coming up behind Robin. She noticed the way he put his hand on her shoulder. The gesture seemed so… intimate. She tried to chase away those thoughts.  
“O-of course Commander.” She said, “I’ll guard this convoy with my life!”  
“Hopefully the need won’t arise for that, but I’m positive you’re a better fighter than the actual convoy guards.” Chrom chuckled, “Just, don’t strain yourself, alright? You took a hell of a beating out there. I don’t want to see you get hurt further. You’re a good soldier, but a better friend.”  
His words brought a blush to her cheeks, and she cracked a smile.  
“T-thank you Commander… Chrom, I mean…”   
“Stay safe.” He replied, and gave her a parting hug.   
From the healers tent, Tharja shuffled out with a bag slung over her shoulder. Cordelia saw her exchange a few words with Robin, and could hear the Tactician apologizing profusely about how careless she’d been with Tharja’s life, and wishing her a safe journey. Although the Dark Mage feigned annoyance, it was impossible to hide the immense satisfaction she got out of Robin begging for her forgiveness.   
At last, Tharja would join her on the convoy and they’d set out at last. When the camp had finally faded from view, Cordelia let out a tired sigh. Maybe a little bit of time away from battle could be good for her. There were other skills she could try and work on. All her life needn’t be dedicated to endless battles and campaigns, right? She thought again about the way Chrom had touched Robin, perhaps it really was nothing and she was overthinking things but it seemed so… close…  
“You look like you’ve got something on your mind.” Tharja said, snapping her out of her thoughts.  
“Oh! No, just enjoying the view!” Cordelia assured her, she’d forgotten about the other woman’s presence.  
“Really?” Tharjas tone was tormenting and knowing. “Robin and Chrom seem closer as of late… what do you think the story is behind that?” She spoke as if she already knew, and Cordelia shifted uncomfortably.  
“They’ve been through a lot together. Why wouldn’t they be close?” She said, and watched as Tharja slipped a bottle from her cloak, and offered it to her.  
“Here. I made this for you this morning.”  
“What is it?” Cordelia took it gingerly and studied the bottle. The contents were a bright gold color.  
“Last night, you said something about having nightmares. This potion brings more pleasant dreams. Just take my word that it works wonders. Mix a spoonful in with some tea before bed tonight. You’ll sleep better than you ever have in your life.”   
Cordelia looked from the bottle, to Tharja, and back again before slipping it in amongst her possessions.  
“Thank you, I appreciate it… you didn’t need to—”  
“You didn’t need to rescue me either, and yet you did.” Tharja sat back a little, before cracking a smile that made Cordelia feel a little uneasy. “It’s a favor to a friend. That’s all.”  
“Well… thank you.” She tried to return the smile, although the effort seemed halfhearted. She couldn’t get that perceived intimacy between Chrom and Robin out of her head, and it haunted her throughout the trip.

When at last they returned to Ylissitol, Cordelia would soon find herself in the barracks. It was nearly nightfall, and the trip had been uneventful. Since the end of the war, she’d been given a room in the Shepherds barracks, inside the castle. It was a warm place to sleep, and the closest thing to a home she had since as a Knight, she’d never had the time to buy land or a home for herself. She certainly had the gold for it. Her busy schedule saw her with little opportunity to spend her wages. She wasn’t even sure how much the Halidom paid her, aside from that they did in fact pay her. Perhaps that was something worth looking into while she was away from the chaos of military life.   
All these factors could be dealt with later however. Cordelia found a kitchen and brewed herself some tea to help her sleep. She added some of Tharja’s potion to it, just a teaspoon, as advised, and poured herself a cup. After finishing it, she returned to her room and fell asleep almost immediately.   
If there’s one thing Tharja wasn’t, it was a liar. Cordelia had never enjoyed a better nights rest, and either by Naga’s goodwill, or the potion, she didn’t dream about the deaths of her knight-sisters. The dream she had, made little sense. Just a collection of pleasant images and sensations that seemed familiar, but that was it.   
When the morning came, she felt as if she could have seized a new lance, found a horse and rode back to Chrom, ready for another battle. She had half a mind to do that too…

She’d spot Tharja brewing coffee in the barracks kitchen after she bathed, and would greet her jovially. The Dark Mage had done away with her normal battle attire and dressed in something significantly more modest. A plain black dress under her usual cloak. For a moment Cordelia seemed surprised. She herself hadn’t thought to wear anything other than her usual attire, sans the armor.   
“Good morning.” She said plainly, catching Tharja’s attention.  
“Headed back to the battlefield already? Or to the training yard.” The Mage teased, “Don’t tell me that’s the only outfit you own.”  
“It’s not!” Cordelia insisted, “It’s just… it’s just what I’m most comfortable in.”   
“Really.” The mage chuckled and gave her coffee a bored stir. “How did you sleep? Any interesting dreams?”  
“No, but whatever you gave me, it worked wonders.” She replied, “I feel ready to take on the world.”  
“Now, now. Don’t push yourself past your limits.” Tharja said, blowing the steam off her coffee before allowing herself a sip. “I for one don’t intend to so much as look at the training ground. What I do intend to do is some light reading.”  
“This is a mandatory rest, not a vacation. We’ve both been injured, perhaps we could train together!” Cordelia offered, “I could adapt a fitness regime, since it’s just the two of us we could set up a proper diet and from there we can put ourselves in better shape than we were when we were on the battlefield before! This is an opportunity for self-improvement!”  
“If that’s what you want, I won’t stop you.” Tharja said, “But ‘fitness regimes’ aren’t exactly my thing. I happened to come across a useful spell tome not too long ago, so I’ll be doing my self-improvement my way.”  
“Oh! Of course! That’s probably a better idea then… for you anyways. I wish you the best of luck.”  
“Why thank you. There’s some spells I’ve been dying to try out. I’ve already been practicing a few… perhaps later I might show you.” Her eyes lingered against Cordelia’s for a while, and she felt herself growing uneasy again. Her heart raced and she moved to the counter to put a kettle on.  
“If you’re comfortable with that, I’d like it very much.” She couldn’t do anything to mask the timidity in her voice, and she noticed a smile creeping onto Tharja’s face.   
“Then we’ll consider it a date…”   
With that, the mage crept off, slipping out the door and back to her room, as soundless as a shadow. 

Cordelia would remain true to her word. She was quick to set herself up on a diet to ensure a speedy recovery and to promote the physical fitness regime she’d begin to put herself through. The next few days would pass quickly as she eased herself into the grind. Her prior thoughts about taking a break were soon enough forgotten in favor of devoting herself to this new training.  
In the mornings, after a balanced breakfast she would run through the streets of the Halidom. A different route every time, to keep things interesting. After that, she would visit the stables, and familiarize herself with the unclaimed Pegasi. Much of her late mornings and early afternoons saw her assisting the stable hands, as she tended to the great beasts. Within a few days, they’d come to tolerate her presence, although none had really taken to her quite yet. She was perfectly alright with that. She still needed some time to move past the death of Catria, and perhaps the Pegasi sensed that.  
Each day, Cordelia would take a modest lunch with the stable hands, before retreating to the courtyard to practice with her javelin for the late afternoon, before supper. She’d spend her evenings resting up for the next day. Before bed, she would mix some of Tharja’s potion with her tea, and have as good a nights sleep as the first time she’d tried that miracle potion.   
As the days passed, she began to notice something as well. Every morning, when she went to the kitchen, Tharja would always be there. As she ran through town, she would always see Tharja, somewhere along her route. Even though the route always changed, the mage was always present for some reason. Cordelia would always see her passing by the stables as she carried out her work for the stable hands. Sometimes the mage just seemed to be watching her. Other times, she looked as if she actually had a valid reason to be there. During supper, Tharja would be in the kitchen again, and as she practiced with her javelin, the woman would sit in the shadows, and watch her.   
It was after five days of this, that Cordelia finally decided to say something.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'know, I've noticed how rushed this fic was and I'm not exactly proud of it. Not my best work. Gonna need to step up my game a bit when I get back to actually writing it.


	3. Hex

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> NSFW

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is it rushed? In hindsight, yes.

She asked as she finished up her javelin practice for the evening.

She could see Tharja moving to leave, no doubt to go to the kitchen, and Cordelia called out to her.  
   “Tharja!”  
   The mage paused, and looked over her shoulder.  
   “Yes?”  
   “You’ve been following me.” Cordelia set her weapon aside and approached the mage. She folded her arms. “At first I thought I was overthinking things. But I’m sure of it now. You’ve been following me.”  
    “It’s a small castle. We’re both busy people. We’re bound to run into each other at some point or another.” She replied evasively, but Cordelia wouldn’t relent.  
    “Every morning when I go out to run, you’re always there. I saw you at the market, I saw you by the blacksmiths. I even saw you standing in old lady Junipers garden!”

     “I was purchasing rhubarb for a spell.” Tharja replied hastily, “Really, you’re all over the place, and I have things to do.”  
    “Then why do you sit and watch me while I practice, or when I’m in the stables?”  
    “You’re interesting to watch.”  
Finally, some truth out of the mage. Cordelia sensed something off in Tharja’s voice. For all the times the woman had made her uncomfortable, for the first time, she seemed to be the uncomfortable one.   
    “I left something on the stove… I should go…” She pulled away hastily, disappearing into the castle while Cordelia watched with a frown. After a while, she followed her, heading up into the kitchen where she found no trace of Tharja, or any sign she’d been cooking anything.

            Frowning, Cordelia wandered out into the hall, seeking out the woman’s room. She found the door closed and locked, and received no answer when she tried knocking. Her next attempt also received no response.

    “Tharja!” She called, before sighing and turning away. The woman was so determined to avoid her it seemed, and that served only to irritate Cordelia.  
   “Fine then… we’ll do it the hard way.”   
She’d turned to leave when she heard the door click, and looked back over her shoulder. It was still closed, but she suspected Tharja had unlocked it. She tried it again and found that, that was exactly the case.

            Slowly, she opened the door, and stepped inside. The dark mage stood before a large bookcase, back turned to Cordelia, although she didn’t seem to be doing anything. In fact, it seemed like an effort to avoid meeting her eyes, without looking like she was actively trying to do so.  
    “I assumed you were going to do something drastic to try and get in… I thought I’d save us both the time and potential damage.” She murmured.   
    “Wise move.” Cordelia replied, “Now answer my question. Why have you been following me lately? You’re acting like you do around Robin!”  
   “You interest me.” Tharja replied casually, glancing over her shoulder “Just like she does. You saved my life. I’ve never owed that kind of debt to anyone. Not even Robin.”  
    “It’s not a debt, Tharja. You owe me nothing… if you’re interested, just talk to me! I’m not that intimidating, am I?”  
    “It’s… not that simple, not for me anyways.” Tharja murmured, grimacing. “You don’t understand…”  
   “Then explain it to me! I won’t get it unless you try!” Cordelia urged, “If you’re just trying to be friends, I understand! I’m honestly kind of flattered you’d even consider it!”  
Tharja bit her lip, before shaking her head. She didn’t respond. Instead, she made her way over to the desk on the far side of the room.  
    “You still don’t quite get it, I… nevermind… I can’t explain.” She paused for a moment longer, before lifting a tome off the desk. It looked like something she’d been writing herself. She hesitated for a moment, glancing at Cordelia from the corner of her eye.

            The Knight drew closer.

    “Tharja, I want to be here for you. As a friend, alright? You can talk to me! I’m not going to judge you, I’m not going to think less of you! I’m curious, that’s all. Please, just tell me what’s on your mind!”

            Tharja regarded her quietly, thinking things over, processing something, before opening the tome.

    “Perhaps… It’ll be easier if I showed you…”  
    “Showed me what?” The mage’s behavior was perplexing. Cordelia felt that familiar stab of unease, as Tharja flipped through the pages of her tome. Part of her told her to get away as quickly as possible but… Tharja was trying to show some sort of interest or goodwill through her actions? It stood to reason that whatever she was up to, wouldn’t be malignant, would it?

            Would it?

She wasn’t given much time to think on it. Under her breath, the dark mage hissed some quiet words, before a flash of purple light struck Cordelia. It caught her completely off guard, but it didn’t hurt her. Instead, it just made her feel a little off balance.  
   She cried out, before gripping the wall. Her knees felt weak and her mouth suddenly felt dry. Tharja hastily set the tome down, watching Cordelia carefully.  
  “W-what was that? What did you just do?” She asked.

Tharja didn’t reply, staring intently at her, as if even she wasn’t sure what to expect.  
  “How do you feel…” She finally asked, her  voice sounded nervous and heavy.  
   “I feel… fine. Hearts racing a little… what is this? What was that spell?”  
    “Look at me… how do you feel?” Tharja repeated, her voice clearer and sterner this time. Cordelia looked at her, trying to read her expression. There was an eagerness written on her face. A longing anticipation.  
   “What are you thinking right now?”  
   “About what?” Cordelia asked, righting herself, and blinking a few times. She still felt a little dizzy, but otherwise, fine.  
    “About… me, of course…”

Cordelia met her eyes, before suddenly she clued in. It was a look she recognized. She’d seen it on her own face too many times when she looked in the mirror.

            For a moment she was confused. Why would Tharja look at her that way? What had that spell been? Then slowly the pieces fell into place. Their encounter, that potion, the recent stalking, and now this… a spell of some sort. Cordelia thought she knew what its intention had been.  
    “I…” She trailed off, watching as Tharja’s expression seemed to light up for a moment. The look seemed so strange on her, but when Cordelia said nothing, it darkened once more.  
    “I see… then the hex didn’t work. I should have known it wouldn’t… it was a bit of a long shot. I’m sorry, this must be confusing to you. It’s better if you forget about this…”

            She shifted uncomfortably, looking humiliated and ashamed. Perhaps she expected Cordelia to start questioning her again. Her fingers rested near her lips as she anxiously bit at her thumbnail, eyes still fixing her in that look.

            Maybe the hex had worked? Why hadn’t she noticed it before? Was this a new development? Was she reading too deeply into this?

Her heart was racing, before finally she made her decision. Worst case scenario, she could blame the hex and brush this off. Tharja seemed content to do as much since she assumed it hadn’t worked.

   “Tharja…” She said softly, approaching the mage. She gingerly took her wrists, lowering them down away from her face. She felt her tensing up in her hands. For one last moment, Cordelia hesitated. Was this really a good idea? She hardly knew Tharja, aside from having saved her life the once. She didn’t even know if this was all part of a hex that had worked, or something that had just been drawn to her attention.

            Tharja intently met her eyes, and Cordelia gently leaned down to plant a gentle kiss on her lips. The mage was surprisingly warm to the touch. Strange, Cordelia had anticipated she’d be colder. She expected Tharja to pull away. To get angry or act confused, but she didn’t. She seemed to lean desperately into the kiss, the tension draining from her body as their lips met.  
    “Gods… it did work…” She breathed, “It worked…”   
So it had been some sort of hex to gain her affections. Cordelia wasn’t sure if it really had worked or not. She didn’t feel any affection for Tharja. Not on the same scale the woman seemed to feel for her. But then, why had she kissed her? Because Tharja was the only person who’d ever looked at her, the same way she’d always looked at Chrom? Perhaps.

            The Mage’s arms were soon wrapping around her, as a strangely warm smile crossed her lips.  
    “Cordelia…” She whispered, her lips getting closer once more as she raised herself up onto her toes to kiss the taller woman. This kiss almost caught her off guard, but she didn’t resist. Instead she leaned into it, softly giving into Tharja’s desires.  
    “You saved my life… I want to make you mine…” The woman crooned in her ear, before leading her to the bed. Cordelia knew what the mage was after, and she stopped, holding her ground and not going any further.  
    “Tharja… I… I don’t know if…”  
    “Why not?” The mage begged, “No one will ever want you the way that I want you… isn’t that enough?” There it was again, that show of doubt. Cordelia could almost hear the other woman’s heart racing. She thought on it for a moment longer, before sighing and taking a step closer to the bed.  
   “If… you want it then.” She said quietly, as Tharja stood before her.  
   “I assure you… I do…” She pecked innocently at Cordelia’s lips, before grinning, and lifted the knights hand to the strap of her dress. She made her slip it down off of her nylon clad shoulder.

            Cordelia did the rest. She took Tharja in her arms, gently undoing the dark silk dress she’d taken to wearing, and unfastening the cloak around her shoulders. The cloak came off first, and was casually tossed aside. The dress would go next, falling into a pool around Tharja’s ankles, exposing bare skin, and smallclothes. The woman seemed to blush, before reclining on the bed.   
    “You know… I’ve never taken a lover before…” She whispered, “I admit, this is my first time…”  
    “Then I’ll be gentle with you.” Cordelia promised, sinking to her knees in front of the bed, and grasping Tharja by the hips. Her thumbs hooked into her smallclothes and tugged them down to her knees. The mage let out a mewl of delight, before helping her do away with the troublesome garment. Beneath it, she was already moist. A few tufts of trimmed dark hair sat just above her sex, and Cordelia felt herself growing anxious, both physically and emotionally for what was to come.

            Tharja looked down at her, nervousness and anticipation etched over her features, as Cordelia pulled her closer, gently spreading her legs as she brought her head down between Tharja’s thighs. She started with innocent, gentle kisses along the insides of her hips, drawing inwards slowly, closer and closer to the mages vulva. She could hear Tharja’s breathing growing heavier, and feel her tense in eager anticipation. All that convinced Cordelia to do was slow her pace.

            Unlike Tharja, she’d taken lovers before, from both sexes. Sometimes one night flings she’d met at a tavern, sometimes fellow soldiers who she’d tried to use to fill the void in her heart. She wondered now if this was really any different. Tharja seemed convinced that it was.

    “Cordelia…” The name fell so lustfully from Tharja’s lips as she drew further and further inwards, kisses slowing before at last, she couldn’t delay any longer.

She pressed the last, and gentlest kiss right above her vulva, before slowly running her tongue along the length of her lower lips.

            She heard Tharja let out a gasp of pleasure, and as her own mouth covered the woman’s clit, she felt her fingers sinking into her hair.  
   “N-Naga… Gods…!”  
Such a reaction almost made Cordelia smile. She pressed her head a little deeper between Tharja’s legs, her tongue rolling over her clit before she started to suckle it. She could taste her warm, wet slick. Her fingers brushed against the woman’s entrance, before carefully slipping one inside. Tharja likely hadn’t been lying about her lack of lovers. She felt surprisingly tight, only one finger would fit for now. Perhaps that had something to do with nerves as well.

            Still, it would do. Slowly, Cordelia began to curl her finger along her inner walls, in a slow, come hither motion. Her tongue affectionately lapped at her clit, pausing only occasionally to suckle the sensitive little nub.

            Tharja let out a sharp exhale, tensing up briefly before relaxing. She swore under her breath, and as this sweet rapture continued, her bare legs came up and draped themselves over Cordelia’s shoulders, keeping her held close and preventing her from pulling away.  
    “Please… don’t stop…”   
A request the knight was all too capable of humoring. Her fingers movements grew steadily faster. Not rougher, but faster and more confident. She could hear the woman’s breath hitching, then stopping. Speeding up before turning into sharp, breathless gasps for air.  
    “Oh Cordelia…” Tharja gripped Cordelia’s hair tighter, as the knight carried out her ministrations. Tharja’s hips ground against her, slowly at first, before growing more and more eager. She let out a low, desperate moan, and lay back on the bed as Cordelia ate her out. Her moans grew closer together, and gradually louder. To see such an effect on someone else admittedly raised Cordelia’s spirits, her every little gesture carried more zeal behind it, as Tharja grew closer and closer to her orgasm. She reached up, and clasped Tharja’s hand. The woman held it tightly, as her thighs squeezed together. She let out a long, low sound, as at last she reached her climax.  
   “Gods! Cordelia!”   
Even as she came, the knight didn’t stop, eagerly lapping up the woman’s slick, before slowly working her way back into soft, gentle kisses between Tharja’s now trembling legs.  
The mage kept a firm grip on her hand, her chest rising and falling with ragged breaths.

    “Was it what you wanted?” Cordelia asked after a few moments of allowing her to rest.  
Tharja didn’t speak. She merely lay there, taking a few moments to collect her thoughts. Cordelia rested her head on her stomach, not wanting to pull away just yet, enjoying this intimacy, even if it was with someone who was still barely more than a stranger. She gingerly kissed along her abdomen before Tharja finally moved her head to meet her eyes.  
    “That was… more intense than anything I’ve ever felt…” She confessed, “I’ve never… not… not that hard before…” She was actually blushing! “Oh Gods…”  
   “It’s alright.” Cordelia assured her, climbing onto the bed beside her. “Do you want to go further or..?”  
  “Yes! Of course! As long as it’s with you!”  
Tharja’s head nuzzled into her breasts as the mage hugged her.  
  “You’re mine… remember that. You’re mine and mine alone.”

            Cordelia didn’t know if those words comforted her or made her feel all the more uneasy, but she simply offered Tharja a gentle smile, before softly meeting her lips once more.  
   “Let me just get comfortable then.” She said, pulling away slightly and slipping out of her tunic. Tharja watched her intently, before reaching out to help her. Her eyes greedily studied every inch of exposed flesh, and when at last Cordelia was in naught but her smallclothes, the mage thrust herself into her arms once more. Her own cheeks flushed red, with herself so exposed in front of the mage, but Tharja seemed to greatly prefer it this way. Her nimble fingers already tugged at her clothes, sliding down the straps of her brassiere, exposing her bare shoulders, before unfastening the garment. Cordelia’s hands self-consciously went to her chest to try and prevent it coming off, and she flushed even redder. She’d been fine preforming oral on the woman, but exposing her breasts just went too far it seemed!

    “I… I don’t…”  
   “Don’t you feel comfortable around me, like this?” Tharja asked, “You do want this too, don’t you?”

            Cordelia finally pulled away, sitting upright on the bed. Tharja frowned, before wrapping her arms around her waist.  
   “Should we go slower…” She sounded disappointed. “I understand if this is all too much. It’s overwhelming even for me. The hex was supposed to… shall we say… dull certain inhibitions but…”  
    “Your hex didn’t work Tharja.” Cordelia finally said,   
    “Of course it did! With what we just did… w-with what you did to me…”

            Cordelia just fixed her in an intense stare, and sighed.  
     “It didn’t work.” She repeated. “What was it supposed to do anyways? Make me… want you? Lust after you?”   
     “Lust? You think I’m that shallow…” Tharja murmured, wrapping herself in the blanket. “I had something a little more lasting in mind. If I wanted just sex I could get it at any tavern. I want _you_! You saved my life… you put yourself at risk for me. No one’s ever shown that kind of devotion before. You’re the perfect match. Perhaps even more than Robin…”  
     “You wanted to hex me into loving you then…” Cordelia replied, “Tharja. I’m sorry but… I don’t…I don’t feel that way.”  
    “What? No! After what you just did… what we’ve been doing…”  
    “I’m sorry… I saw the way you were looking at me, I guess that and the way you spoke clued me in. No one’s ever looked at me that way before or even been interested in me like this before. I guess I just saw that and I… I wanted to do something. I still do.”

            Gods did she ever. But that was her body craving attention, in her mind, there was doubt and discord.

            Tharja’s heart sank. She still clung to Cordelia, unsure of what to say next.  
     “Have I offended you… have I made a mistake…”

    “No. You’ve made me think…”  
She reached up to take the mages hand, and turned to meet her eyes.  
    “I’ll stay with you tonight, alright? Not because of some hex. Because I want to. But tomorrow, I think we need to discuss things… this, what you feel, what I feel.”

     “Y-you’re not rejecting me?” She sounded surprised.  
    “No. I’m not rejecting you.” Cordelia pushed Tharja back down on the bed, and stood up, slowly letting her brassiere fall, before stripping off her smallclothes entirely. Now, aside from her stockings, she stood completely nude in front of Tharja, whose skin turned a shade that matched Cordelia’s hair.  
   “But you’re not going to try and hex me into loving you again. I’m going to make you earn it.”   
   “U-understood…” She stammered, as Cordelia climbed on top of her, lowering herself down onto Tharja’s body and kissing her once more. She took the mage in her arms and felt both her partners arms and legs entwining around her. It was easy to lose herself in this passion as she hungrily met the other woman’s lips. Her hand slipped between Tharja’s legs, rubbing her once more, and earning a soft little gasp from the mage.

            Cordelia’s lips found the crook of her neck, and she planted a few tender kisses there, sucking at the skin as her fingers pressed into Tharja’s sex. Only one, once more but now she tried to ease a second one in. She heard the woman let out a low grunt of protest, before opening herself up to it. She buried her head into Cordelia’s shoulder.  
   “Is it too much?” The Knight whispered, and she felt Tharja shake her head.  
    “Don’t stop…”  
Her thumb gently rubbed her clit, as she fingered her. Cordelia couldn’t help but smile as she teased poor Tharja, who seemed to have forgotten her gloomy exterior, and clung desperately to the woman, only letting out the occasional shaky breath.

            With her free hand, Cordelia reached over to undo the strap of Tharja’s brassiere, and hummed in satisfaction as it came lose. The younger woman offered little resistance as she did away with it, and Cordelia rewarded her compliance with a kiss on the top of her head.

    “There… enough foreplay…” She whispered, slipping her hand out from between Tharja’s legs, and sensually licking her fingers. “You taste lovely by the way…”

            Her low, seductive tone had left the poor dark mage utterly speechless. She’d never been redder in her entire life, and she let out a sound of protest as Cordelia’s wonderful fingers were taken away. Instead, she was splayed on her back as the knight straddled her.

            She gently kneaded Tharja’s breasts, looking down at her with a sweet smile, before grinding her hips against her. She reached down, shifting to allow them both some room to maneuver, before spreading Tharja’s legs and lifting one of them up. In that same gentle motion, she positioned her body so her own sex would be able to brush against hers. It took Tharja a few moments to realize what Cordelia was trying to do. She’d read about this sort of act in some of the illicit novels she’d occasionally read, but never had she imagined she’d actually partake in it.

            When Cordelia’s vulva pressed against hers, she tensed and let out a weak gasp. The knight reached down to rub her clit, which offered a far more pleasurable sensation. Tharja’s knuckles dug into the bedsheets as she locked eyes with Cordelia, who started to grind against her, in a slow, steady rhythm.  
   “Does that feel good?” She asked. Tharja could only nod, and Cordelia reached out to caress her cheek.  
   “It does for me too…” Steadily, she got faster. Every thrust came a little harder, but thankfully not too hard. Cordelia at least seemed to know what she was doing. In the dim light of the bedroom, she looked like a vision. Tharja wasn’t entirely sure she wasn’t dreaming and she’d soon awake to find her own hand in between her legs.

            If it was a dream, it didn’t show any sign of ending. Cordelia’s breathing grew heavier. She rested her hands on Tharja’s abdomen, her head tilted back, and mouth slack in a display of ecstasy as her eyes slowly closed. She let out her first moan of pleasure, and it sounded almost musical.

            All Tharja could do was look, enraptured by her beauty, feeling her own heart race as the pleasure between them built up. There was a familiar warmth in her loins, but it seemed far more intense than she’d ever felt it before. With every stroke, Cordelia masterfully stimulated them both, and soon, Tharja found herself meeting Cordelia’s every movement. The woman let out another pleasured moan, her head falling slightly, and teeth gritted in determination. Sweat was forming on her brow as she responded to Tharja’s returned thrusts with a renewed vigor.   
   “Gods…” She finally uttered.   
   “Cordelia…” Was the only sound Tharja could squeak out. Remembering the way the other woman had touched her as she’d eaten her out, she reached out for her hand, and Cordelia gladly took it, squeezing tightly.   
   “Cordelia…” Tharja whispered again, squeezing her hand in turn. She could barely hold on anymore, and her head fell backwards onto the sheets, as the pleasure of her orgasm washed over her. Cordelia would only seem to hold out for a few moments longer, before she too succumbed to a vicious climax.

            The Knight cried out, but her motions didn’t stop. She swore under her breath, before beginning to slow. She still ground her hips against her lover, wanting to prolong this incredible sensation.  
    “Tharja…” The name sounded so beautiful coming from her lips. Her eyes opened at last, blinking a couple of times before meeting the eyes of her partner. That stare made the mages own blood rush.

            Cordelia smiled, before curling up beside Tharja once more, her breath came in heavy pants, before at last she took the woman in her arms again. Tharja all too eagerly gripped her tightly. The woman seemed outright shaken, she’d never been touched by another in such a manner before, and her first time had been nothing short of mind blowing. She couldn’t find the words yet, not even when Cordelia’s lips met hers once more. Gooseflesh rose on her skin as the knight lovingly ran a hand along her body, groping one of her bare breasts before kissing at her neck and leaving a small love bite.  
    “Gods…” She finally managed to utter, “That was… this is…”  
    “What you wanted?” Cordelia asked softly. Tharja only nodded.  
     “Yes… what I wanted, and then some…”  
She curled into the redheads arms, collecting her thoughts as her heart tried to steady itself.   
    “Good.” Cordelia rested her head on the pillow, and glanced over at the door. The barracks were sparsely populated enough that no one would have heard them, and no one would notice if she spent the night. That was good enough for her.

            Tharja’s lips tentatively pressed against her skin, mimicking the kisses she’d given, and nestling into the crook of her neck. She lovingly ran her hands up and down Cordelia’s back, playfully sinking her nails into her skin.   
   “You said you’d stay the night…” She whispered in a sing song voice.  
    “I will.” Cordelia replied, “I’ll be right here.”  
    “Good.” Tharja pulled her closer, hugging her tight, as she finally seemed to relax. “Maybe we can go again in the morning?”

            Cordelia wasn’t sure, so she didn’t answer. The mage didn’t press the issue. She simply lay back, staring up at the ceiling, lost in thought. She thought about what she’d just done with Tharja, what it meant, and what would happen next.

            Soon enough she’d drift off in her lovers arms, her questions unanswered but nonetheless content.


	4. A Date

Come morning, she’d wake up alone and naked in Tharja’s room. Last night’s events were still crystal clear in her mind. She remembered it all, and she regretted none of it.

            Cordelia sat up slowly, before smoothing her hair down. She needed a warm bath to clear her head. Her clothes were found scattered on the floor, and she dressed herself quickly, before stepping out into the empty barracks hall. She could smell breakfast cooking, and made her way to the kitchen, to find Tharja hard at work preparing something for them to share. The mage was hardly an accomplished chef, but she could competently fry an egg and some potatoes at least.   
    “Good morning.” She said, her tone unusually cheerful. “I didn’t want to wake you, I was hoping you’d stay in bed long enough so I could bring this to you.”

    “I’m usually an early riser.” Cordelia admitted, and sat down at the table. Tharja was quick to bring the food to her. Her cheeks were still flushed, but she’d apparently found time to bathe and put on clean clothes before she’d started cooking. Breakfast was rather good, not exactly the finest meal she’d ever eaten but there was nothing wrong with it. She was more than happy to express her gratitude for it as well. Her endeavor with Tharja last night had seen them both missing supper, and she was rather hungry. Still, the words on her mind lingered for several moments and eating would only distract from them for so long before they needed to be spoken.  
    “Tharja… about last night… about us.”  
    “You said if I want you, I need to earn it.” Tharja replied, “You’ve already shown me that you are worth my effort… what is it I need to do to sway your affections towards me?”  
    Such eagerness… and such lack of understanding. Cordelia sighed.  
    “You don’t… need to do anything, I suppose. But I hardly know the first thing about you. I’m flattered you feel the way you do for me, truly I am! I’d worried that no one would ever care for me, but if we’re going to talk about this, if we’re even thinking about it, then I want to know you better.”  
    “What better opportunity to get to know me than now?” Tharja asked, inching closer, “We’re practically alone here. I have nothing but time.”  
    “As do I.” Cordelia admitted, “I’m glad you’re open to this. I suppose… I’d want to start off slowly. Perhaps we could go out together. Do something together.”  
   “As in a date?” The word caught in the woman’s throat. She’d expected something more akin to a rigorous questioning session.   
   “Yes. A date.” Cordelia replied, with a smile. “I’ll even pay for it all. I hear there’s a festival in town. Perhaps we can go this afternoon, if you’d like.”  
   “Perhaps…” Tharja murmured, “A date… I suppose if it’s to win your heart, I have no choice but to accept.” She was embarrassed to admit she’d never exactly been on ‘a date’ before. She’d considered such mundane activities below her. After all, who needed dates when you could just hex people into doing what you wanted? It wouldn’t be that easy though. For the first time Tharja was starting to realize that this would require more effort than she’d originally thought. Cordelia was smiling though, she seemed… rather excited by this prospect. Seeing her like that brought a smile to the mages face.  
    “A date.” She said again. “I’ll make sure I don’t disappoint you.”  
   “I doubt you will.” Cordelia reached out to take her hand, and squeezed it affectionately. “I should get to my morning training routine.” With that she started to stand up. “But I’ll see you later, thank you for breakfast, oh and… Tharja:”

She kissed the mage on the cheek.  
   “Last night was wonderful.”

            That was the last straw. The poor mage was blushing and couldn’t stop. She could only watch as Cordelia left her to her thoughts. Her heart pounded in her chest, and it took a few moments to settle down again, before she started cleaning up the kitchen, feeling an unfamiliar sense of elation.   


            Cordelia felt a similar rush as she jogged through town. For one who excelled in so many fields as a soldier, running was never her strongest suit. It was strange. She could practice for hours on end with a javelin or a lance, give Sully and Vaike a run for their money in terms of raw strength and was a tireless worker around the camp, and yet the moment she needed to run, she felt out of breath and her legs got sore. She’d gotten the form down pat, practiced until her knees were ready to give out, but she’d never gotten any faster and she’d only barely gotten any more stamina. Yet today she felt as if she could sprint laps around the town. Gods she’d never had such energy before! A hex from Tharja perhaps? If so she’d need to thank the mage for it.

 “Cordelia!”

The familiar voice that called out to her shook her from her splendor, and Cordelia turned to see someone waving at her from down the street. Her heart skipped a beat and she stopped dead in her tracks.  
    “Sumia?” She looked absolutely shocked. Seeing her fellow Pegasus Knight was hardly an unwelcome visage, but it was certainly surprising! The other knight ran towards her, smiling cheerfully, before she tripped over her own two feet, crashed face first into the cobblestone streets and skidded a few inches, scraping her shoulder in the process. Cordelia hurried to her side, and helped her stand.  
   “Gods! Sumia are you alright?”  
   “I’m fine!” The younger woman insisted, although her good cheer had momentarily vanished and was replaced by flat out embarrassment. Unfortunately for her, Cordelia was used to watching her trip and fall.  
   “What are you doing here? What about Chrom and the others?”  
   “They’re still on the battlefield.” She explained, “But Chrom and Robin sent some of the army back home. The brigand group who’d tried to capture that town was one of the biggest in the area! Now that they’re scattered, there’s not much left for us to do. Robin’s been using the survivors as low risk training for some of the less experienced troops. You know I wouldn’t leave Chrom lightly but, he’ll be coming back in a few days, and I wanted to see how you were doing! I’ve been really worried, you know!”

   “I’m sure!” Cordelia replied, smiling. “But I’ve been alright! Really, better than alright!”  
   “So I’ve noticed, if you’re up and about running around town!” Sumia said, “I’m glad you’re feeling better at least! I was expecting you to be in bed, resting… I was going to bring you something, but if you’re up for it, maybe I can just buy you lunch instead?”

    “Lunch?” Cordelia thought of her kept date with Tharja. “Well, I suppose it couldn’t hurt, but just something light. I’m… I’ll be visiting the festival tonight with a friend.”  
    “Oh?” Sumia’s expression lit up, “Of course! The Spring Festival is this week, isn’t it? You wouldn’t mind if I went with you, would you?”  
Normally Cordelia would have said yes, but given both the nature of her trip, and the company. She hesitated.  
   “Er… well, it’s a personal matter.” She said sheepishly, “I’m… um…”

Sumia simply watched her quietly, already having figured out that Cordelia was trying to say no. She looked disappointed.  
   “It’s alright if you don’t want to go with me.” She said softly, “It’s on all week, maybe tomorrow? There’s plenty to do!”

            That was true, and Cordelia felt relief rush through her.  
    “Yes, there is.” She agreed, “Tomorrow would be nice actually. I’m sorry I can’t go with you tonight. I’d love to it’s just… well, I didn’t think you’d be back and…”  
   “Oh it’s quite alright! Who are you going with, may I ask? Oh! That’s not too nosy, is it?”

            It’d be alright to tell her who, right? Sumia would never guess the real reason behind it.  
   “Tharja.” She admitted, “I guess we’ve become a bit closer since what happened. I thought I’d show her a little bit about our culture since it’s all rather new to her!” It felt wrong to feed poor Sumia such blatant horseshit, but she couldn’t exactly outright state the reason. She’d never understand. While relations between women weren’t stigmatized, they weren’t common either, and when they involved a former enemy soldier, it threatened to raise questions Cordelia wasn’t comfortable dealing with yet.

   “Well, I hope she enjoys it then! Just save the really fun stuff for me!” Sumia said, her smile returning. She seemed relieved, perhaps simply because she knew she wasn’t being abandoned.

   “I wouldn’t dream of doing otherwise.” Cordelia promised, and for a while, her run would be forgotten as she instead joined Sumia at a nearby bistro for a light lunch.

            She’d learn of what had transpired in her absence. The army had moved onwards, pursuing the brigands they’d fought in the village to their camp. Robin’s tactics had proven as relentless as always, and they’d captured a few stragglers who’d been separated from the group. They were young farmers sons, having turned to the life of a highwayman to either protect their own homes or make a better living. They’d gladly surrendered their knowledge in order to spare their own lives. According to them, the brigands leader had been among the dead at the village, and their base of operations was poorly fortified and with their diminished numbers, unlikely to survive an assault of any kind.

            Robin had later confirmed their stories, before sending the others home. It was almost refreshing to know that their minor campaign had ended favorably enough. Chrom would doubtless soon be returning home to his castle and his new duties as Exalt.

           

            Her lunch with Sumia would be a delightful departure from her usual routine. The girl had seemed fairly overjoyed to see her, although Cordelia had sensed she was somewhat restless. Perhaps a consequence of having just gotten back from a campaign, Cordelia dismissed it without a thought. She was no doubt just as restless. Perhaps tomorrow, she’d invite Sumia to join her on her morning runs.

            With the lunch over though, her date with Tharja loomed ahead. It felt so strange to be calling it a date, but that’s really what it was. Plain and simple. That afternoon, Cordelia skipped her usual impromptu visit to the stables in favor of a warm bath and some time to get ready. She owned little in the way of fancy attire. Most of her clothes were plain and serviceable, designed to be worn while training or under armor. Amongst them however were a few more formal dresses she’d procured years ago. Two of them were too small for her, having never been worn since she was a recruit, at the age of fourteen, about six or seven years ago. The other dress was too loose in the bosom. She recalled deliberately buying it as such because she was too ashamed to let the seamstress measure her bust, for fear of judgement. The last dress she tried on was a plain green one that looked as if it’d been made from the leftover scraps of better dresses. However it fit, and it was clean, so it’d simply have to do.

            She just barely had time to do her hair up before she was making her way to the kitchen, to wait on Tharja. The mage took so long that she’d almost started to worry that she’d either completely forgotten about the date, or outright changed her mind, but eventually, she did show up looking no different than she usually did.

            She paused to study Cordelia, noting the way she’d done her hair and worn a debatably nicer dress than usual for the occasion. The Knight swore that for a moment, she looked flustered, and shied towards the door.  
   “Oh… I didn’t think we were supposed to…” She bowed her head slightly, her eyes hiding behind the fringe of her hair.

            Cordelia merely offered a smile.  
    “It’s alright! I didn’t exactly say anything and it’s not really formal!” She insisted, determined to make the poor mage feel better, “What you’re wearing is perfect, trust me!”  
    “Flattery will get you nothing from me.” Tharja replied bitterly, and Cordelia felt the mage’s eyes on her. “I can’t be seen in public looking like… _this,_ while you get to walk around dressed so prettily.”   
   “Prettily?” Cordelia asked, looking down at her dress. “Oh! Gods no, this? Pretty! No, I just… well I wanted to wear something a little nicer than usual but, this isn’t all that great. It’s rather ugly actually.”  
    “Don’t demean yourself to make me feel better. You look ravishing…” Tharja murmured, still hiding her eyes. “If you changed your mind, and would rather go with someone else, I’d understand.”  
    “Of course I haven’t changed my mind!” Cordelia assured her, “Who else would I go with?” Sumia came to mind, and Cordelia suspected that was who Tharja was referring to. Although she hadn’t seen the mage during her morning run (a first) didn’t mean she hadn’t been stalked.

Regardless, she took Tharja’s hand in her own.  
   “Come on. You look lovely, I promise.” She smiled warmly at her and led her out of the kitchen, and through the castle.

            Tharja was quiet on the walk there, almost awkwardly so. She tried to keep behind Cordelia as if she was trying to hide from her, or from someone else for that matter. As they made their way into the crowded streets, the mage pressed closer to her.

            Large crowds had always made Tharja uncomfortable. She was the quiet type, the sort who kept to herself and only bothered immersing herself in her very specific interests. Being out of her personal space, and in an area with so many reveling strangers, many of whom were already drunk made her feel lost and misplaced. Yet as she clung to Cordelia, the woman was kind enough not to let her go, and she soon found herself under the knights arm, by her side. She didn’t pull away from this… actually it was rather nice. It made her feel as if there was some sort of wall between her and these foreign strangers.

            Cordelia didn’t mind offering an arm of comfort. She could tell Tharja was tense, and she wanted to alleviate that stress. She realized just how out of her element the mage was, and she had no desire to make this even harder on her than it already would be.

Her first stop, was to small booth that sold sweets. Traditional Ylissan sweets to be precise. Tharja only watched in mild curiosity as Cordelia bought two small pastries, and offered one to her.

    “Try it.” She insisted, “You’ll like it, I promise!”  
Reluctantly, the mage took the pastry and bit into it. A sweet, warm gooey filling squirted into her mouth. Cordelia wasn’t wrong, she did like it. She liked it enough to insist she go back for a second one, a request the knight happily obliged.

            Together they wandered from stall to stall, sampling sweets and other tasty snacks, until eventually, Cordelia quickly pulled away from her.   
   “Oh! This game! I used to be rather good at it!”

She hurried towards a small archery range, where children lined up and tried to hit a series of moving ducks in a row.

    “This looks rigged…” Tharja noted, watching the children as they tried to draw the bows. Either children were ridiculously weak, or those bows were designed to be hard to draw.   
     “That’s part of the fun.” Cordelia assured her, before putting down some gold for two bows and ten arrows. “I’ll tell you what, play a round with me, and I’ll win you something.” She offered one of the bows to Tharja, who quietly accepted it.  
   “Very well then… archery isn’t my strong suit, but I guess I can try.”  
She took up a spot beside Cordelia, and tried to draw her first arrow. As she suspected, the bow was rigged. The string didn’t draw back correctly, and the arrow was difficult to notch. On her first try, her arrow flopped uselessly to the ground. She grimaced and tried again with more success this time, although she didn’t hit a duck.

            Cordelia hadn’t even fired her first arrow yet. She merely watched Tharja with a grin on her face. The mage blushed before trying one more shot. This time she hit a duck. Just barely, but it was still a hit!

    “Ten points to the woman in black!” Cried the man tending the game.

Cordelia let her first arrow fly as Tharja notched her fourth. She couldn’t help but notice the relative ease at which the woman drew back the rigged bow and fired the arrow. It struck one of the ducks at a strange angle, but still knocked it down.  
   “Ten points to the woman with the red hair!” The man said.  
Tharja’s fourth arrow hit nothing, and her fifth netted her a fifteen point duck. Her meager twenty five points weren’t enough to get her any prizes. Cordelia on the other hand seemed to have maintained her affinity with this game.

    “Twenty points! Fifteen points! Thirty points!”  
As Cordelia notched her last arrow, she took aim at the duck with the red ‘50’ painted on it. She held her breath, and let the arrow fly. The duck went down, and the man behind the counter looked genuinely impressed.

   “Fifty points to the girl with the red hair! I believe that leaves you with a grand total of one hundred and twenty five points! That nets you any prize from the middle shelf!”

            Still grinning, Cordelia nudged Tharja.  
   “Take your pick.” She offered, “Any one you want.”  
   “You won, why should I pick?” Tharja asked defensively, but Cordelia insisted.  
   “I promised I’d win you a prize, right? I always keep my word!”

Knowing she wouldn’t relent, Tharja surveyed the available prizes. Nothing offered was particularly interesting or useful. They were all medium sized plush toys designed for children all of which were beneath her… except maybe the black bird on the end… that one was kind of cute, she supposed. She ended up choosing that one, and the man gladly took it down and offered it to her.

            She felt almost embarrassed accepting it, but why not accept it? Cordelia had gone through so much work to win it for her.

    “Come back soon!” The man behind the counter lied, as Tharja and Cordelia left his stall, the mage clutching her new bird toy.   
    “Told you I was good at that game.” Cordelia said proudly, “You didn’t do so bad yourself for a first timer! I’d love to see what you could do with a real bow! Where’d you learn to use one anyways?”  
    “The Plegian army puts all its new recruits through the same basic training routines.” Tharja admitted, “I’ve had some experience with all sorts of weapons. I’m just better with magic. I like to be as far away from the enemy as possible.”

    “Sounds like you’d make a very good archer.” Cordelia laughed, thinking that she’d heard similar words from Virion once upon a time. “Maybe you and I could train together sometime.”  
    “If you wanted to, I suppose…” Tharja murmured, although the thought of it made her uneasy. She didn’t exactly consider being shown up by the very model of a perfect soldier her idea of a romantic date night. Cordelia simply let out a squeal of delight however at the prospect and clasped Tharja’s free hand.  
   “I look forward to it then!”

Just like that, the mage was dragged off to the next activity, although not unwillingly.

 

            The chaotic afternoon slowly turned into evening, and Cordelia always had some new thing to show Tharja, be it a game, or a type of food. It was all rather overwhelming but, ultimately it wasn’t bad. Exactly the opposite.

            Tharja found herself smiling as Cordelia showcased her skill at another one of the game stands, and even caught herself laughing after she somehow managed to beat the Knight at one of them! She didn’t get any presents quite like her stuffed blackbird, but she didn’t mind. The one toy was more than enough for her, she had neither the space nor the interest to start up a collection.

            As the night came to its close, Cordelia led her to the banks of the river that ran through the Halidom.   
  “It’s almost dark.” She informed the mage, “They usually have a fireworks show right after it gets dark! If we hurry, we could get a good view!” She paused, and her smile briefly faded.  
   “I used to watch it with my sisters from the back of my Pegasus. We had a spot we went to every year.”  
 Tharja squeezed her hand reassuringly.  
   “We could go there, if you’d like.”  
    “It’d be nice but, I don’t think we could.” Cordelia replied, “It was atop the castles tower, the only way to get there was by Pegasus. I don’t want to go anyways. I’d rather stay right here and make a new memory with you.”                                                     

            Such sentimental words brought a smile to Tharja’s lips.  
    “That’s rather sweet of you.” She said softly. Cordelia squeezed her hand gently, and leaned down to kiss her cheek. It was chaste and almost platonic, but it was a show of affection.

            Tharja leaned into the other woman’s embrace as the first few fireworks soared through the sky and exploded. Their light was reflected in the river, and Cordelia was helpless but to look skyward in awe. She’d never seen the fireworks so close before!

            Tharja feigned excitement, but in truth, this proximity to the river and the sound of explosions served more to put her on edge than before. All of this reminded her of the first time she’d entered The Halidom, and that time had not been with Chrom and his army…

 

            She’d been assigned to Gangrel’s personal battalion. She seldom actually saw the King, but she served directly under his General and Tactician, a delightful little fiend named Aversa. During the war, she’d been part of the army that had marched on Ylissitol when Gangrel first took it. She’d been among the mages shooting wind spells to take down the Pegasus Knights who flew in from the rear, and she vividly remembered their screams as they fell, as well as the broken corpses of soldiers in the river that lazily flowed through town…

 

    “Tharja?” Cordelia’s voice broke her out of the memory, and the mage blinked a few times, before realizing she’d been staring at the water, as opposed to the sky.  
   “Are you alright?” She asked, frowning.  
   “I’m fine.” She insisted, before forcing a smile, “Just… happy to be here with you. The fireworks are rather beautiful, aren’t they?”  
Cordelia’s smile returned.   
   “They’re very beautiful.” She said softly, “Not quite much as you, however.”

            The color drained from Tharja’s face.  
   “What did you just say to me?”  
Cordelia giggled. Her words hadn’t felt completely hollow, but the reaction had certainly been worth it.  
    “Got your attention, didn’t it?”

The last series of fireworks went off in a stunning finale. Cordelia offered a ‘finale’ of her own, by leaning down and kissing her gently on the mouth. As quickly as the color had gone away, the mage turned vividly red. If she hadn’t been trying to woo Cordelia, she may have hexed her for such an outrage. A weeping curse or a runny nose curse would do the trick! At least she refrained from doing such, knowing damn well that it would easily ruin her chance with her. She’d learned quite some time ago how poorly it always went whenever she tried to hex the people she was interested in.

            With the fireworks over, the crowd who’d gathered to watch slowly dispersed, and Cordelia once more reached for Tharja’s hand, heading with her back towards the castle. It was a relief to be away from the river, the memory was not one of Tharja’s prouder ones. She’d yet to tell anyone of her role in taking Ylissitol during the war, minor as it was. It was something she regarded with a bitter guilt. This entire city felt like someplace that she didn’t belong.

As they walked through the streets, back to the castle, Cordelia couldn’t help but look back towards the river. She squeezed at Tharja’s hand once more, and the mage reluctantly squeezed back.  
    “You sure you’re alright?” She asked softly, “You’ve been quiet.”  
    “I’m fine!” Tharja protested, and it sounded more defensive than she wanted it to, “I’m okay.” She insisted, “Just…crowds don’t sit well with me. I’m sorry.”

     “For what? I’m glad you even bothered going with me!” Cordelia said, “I guess this is a little out of your element but, you put yourself out there, that’s what’s important to me.”  
   “Then this wasn’t a disaster?” Tharja asked hopefully, clutching her bird slightly closer.  
    “Of course not! I had fun!” The Knight promised, “I enjoyed being out with you tonight. When you loosen up, you’re really not that bad to be around. I mean it.”  
   “Why thank you…”  
The compliment felt so strange to Tharja, but she wouldn’t refuse it.

     “You’re… nice to be around as well, when you know I’m there at least.”

     “This must be better than just following me around I hope.” Cordelia replied, “It’s a little more… interactive.” She cracked a smile.  
    “I remember when I was very young, my Father would take me to the fair every spring.” She said, “He taught me how to play the games, we bought sweets at the local stands. There weren’t any fireworks back then, or if there were I didn’t get to stay up late enough to see them.” She sighed.  
    “That all stopped during the first war with Plegia. I was still a child at the time, but he was drafted into the army. He never came home.”

     “That war was bitter on both sides…” Tharja said softly, “I lost no family to it, but many of them joined the ranks. My family is almost exclusively Dark Mages. We’re one of the older houses in Plegia.”

            An entire family of dark mages… that concept was more than a little terrifying.

    “Did you join up because of them?” Cordelia asked, and Tharja paused.

    “That was… a factor…” She admitted, “Familial pressure… and the fact that, well… when one is good at something. It makes sense for them to do it.”

    “Did they say anything about your leaving the army?”

    “I haven’t stayed in touch.” Tharja confessed, “Even before I abandoned that lunatic King… I doubt they think much of it. They probably know I’m not dead, and even if I did try and reach out to them… I wouldn’t exactly know how to bring up the topic of my current allegiances.”

            Cordelia nodded in quiet understanding.

    “Yes… I admit, if I were you, I wouldn’t know what to say either.” She shied away from using the words ‘Traitor’ or ‘Treason’. But that was exactly what Tharja was.

            The mage gave no response, and let herself be led back to the safe walls of the castle. Cordelia held her hand the whole way, leading her through the halls, and towards her quarters. Tharja had never been in here before, Cordelia’s room was clean, neat and organized. Almost to the point of looking completely unlived in. There were few personal effects, the bed has freshly cleaned sheets and was made with unsurprising precision. For a moment, Tharja wondered if they’d come to the wrong place.

            Cordelia retrieved a small bottle of wine from a cupboard beside the bed, along with two glasses. She offered the first cup to Tharja, who set her toy blackbird down by the door in favor of holding it. She seemed wary of going any further into the room, and nervously sipped the wine.  
    “Come here.” Cordelia said softly, sitting down on the bed, and Tharja finally allowed her feet to move, drawing her closer to Cordelia. Her heart was racing all over again. She sat down by her side, and took another anxious mouthful of wine, as she avoided Cordelia’s eyes.

            That simply wouldn’t do, the Knight cupped Tharja’s cheek and pulled her into a tender kiss. For a moment, the mage would tense up before leaning into her embrace. Cordelia’s fingers gently ran through her dark locks, as she broke the kiss. She smiled innocently, and made Tharja meet her eyes.  
    “I thought you said I needed to earn your affection…” Tharja murmured,  
    “I did.” Cordelia replied, “But I never said anything about this…”  
Her lips met Tharja’s once more, and she didn’t fight back, although in the back of her mind a thought began to bother her.

    Cordelia’s lackluster romantic history was hardly a secret, and Tharja wondered if the knight was only using her just to feel cared for. In the end, she decided it didn’t matter. There wouldn’t be much more than a kiss, some wine and conversation, that evening. Though Tharja wanted it, and she suspected Cordelia did too, there was no repeat of the night before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And this ends the bit I had written before I started posting all this. From here on out, fully new content, but I'm gonna take some time to actually write it cuz I have a LOT of things going on at the moment. No planned update schedule. Just check back whenever.


	5. Jealousy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> NSFW

            Come morning, Cordelia almost resented waking up alone. Waking up the night before with someone close… a warm body at her side, had been nice, even if she wasn’t in the mood for anything more intimate.

            She rolled onto her back and sat up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She could smell something delicious in the barracks. Some sort of pie, no doubt Sumia’s work. That woman seemed to enjoy her pies. It was seldom a wonder that in the field, their resident rogue, Gaius had delighted in following her around.

            Rising from the bed, and yawning, she wandered into the kitchen, only to spot a sight she hadn’t expected to see… well… ever.

            Tharja and Sumia, one by the oven, patiently removing a fresh pie, the other using some simple fire magic to fry up an egg and some bacon. While the latter greeted Cordelia with a sideye, and a half smile, if she’d wished to say any sort of greeting, she was preemptively silenced by Sumia, who loudly and cheerfully greeted Cordelia.

   “Oh! You’re up! I thought you’d sleep in!” She said, a little awkwardly.

   “When have I ever slept in?” Cordelia replied, watching as Sumia took a knife and cut into the still hot pie.

    “Well… I just thought, since you’re on leave and all…”

    “Even more reason to up my training regime.” Cordelia finished, glancing between the two other women. As Sumia tried to usher her towards a seat, it dawned on her what was going on.

            Unaware of eithers intentions, both women had made her breakfast. Surprisingly, Tharja was the only one who’d made her a proper breakfast, despite the fact that Cordelia never recalled seeing her out of her tent before noon unless they were planning an attack.        

    “I thought you might appreciate a little home cooked something either way! I mean, we’ve got a big day ahead of us, right? It’s been ages since I’ve been to the City fair. I wonder if it’s changed at all.” Sumia said, and Cordelia caught a notable grimace from Tharja. The mage however refrained from making a scene, quietly plating the food and opting to eat it herself. Ideally, out of the room. As Tharja left, Cordelia could see her staring and tried to look apologetic, as Sumia presented her with a thick slice of what looked to be a perfectly good, if not a little too hot, strawberry pie.

    “This isn’t exactly a typical breakfast food…” Cordelia protested.

    “Oh, well… no, not really… But you ARE on leave, and I thought you’d like it!” Sumia said, almost dismissively. “Besides, we’re both adults, right?”

            Cordelia wasn’t sure just how to respond to that. She could hear Frederick and Phila in the back of her mind lecturing her on the importance of proper nutrition. And then there was Sumia, right in front of her, smiling, and eager for her approval.

    “Well… once couldn’t hurt, right?” She said, before taking her fork, cutting a piece off the pie and blowing on it. Once it was cooled, it was actually quite delicious, and the look on Sumia’s face… the smile she wore, now that really was worth a few extra calories.

  


            With breakfast out of the way, Cordelia had excused herself to go and actually get ready. She’d bathed undisturbed, and upon returning to her room, found the nearby kitchen and hallways empty. She’d thought she’d heard Sumia in the bathing area, but there was no sign of Tharja. Not until she opened the door to her bedroom, at least.

            The Dark Mage was waiting inside, and pulled her into an embrace the moment the door closed. Cordelia’s heart raced from the shock of her sudden appearance, although she didn’t much mind the attention. The towel she’d wrapped around herself briefly threatened to drop, although either by serendipity, or the closeness of their bodies, remained on.

    “You’re going back to the fair with _her_?” Tharja sounded almost dejected to hear it.

    “I saw her in town the other day.” Cordelia said, flushing as she felt Tharja’s warm breath against the bare skin of her neck. “We’ve gone almost every year before… that’s all.”

    “Is it?” Tharja’s tone was almost accusatory, and Cordelia lifted her head, to meet her eyes.

    “It is.” She promised, “She asked me to go last night… I chose you, didn’t I?”

            Tharja avoided Cordelia’s eyes.

    “You did…” She agreed.

    “You don’t need to be so jealous. We’re just going as friends. It’d be more unusual if I didn’t go with her…” Cordelia left out the fact that it typically wasn’t just them who went… there’d been others. Different Knight Sisters, different friends who’d joined them, and who would not be joining them now.

    “Fine…” Tharja sighed, letting her go. “I trust you…” Although her voice said otherwise. Cordelia cupped the other woman’s chin, making her look up at her.

    “I promised I’d try this. But if this is going to work out… you can’t keep me all to yourself, all the time. Okay?”

    “Alright…” There was more acceptance in Tharja’s voice this time, and Cordelia caught a flush on her cheeks. She couldn’t deny… it was actually rather cute. It hardly felt forced as she leaned in to kiss the dark mage, a gesture Tharja seemed to welcome.

            As their lips parted, she noticed that Tharja seemed rather thunderstruck, and couldn’t keep herself from laughing a little.

   “Now let me get dressed in peace.” She said, shooing her towards the door. She half expected some sort of suggestive comment or show of defiance, but Tharja seemed too shellshocked to even articulate such a sentiment.

 

            She met Sumia outside by the stables. Sumia had opted for a more casual outfit, while Cordelia hadn’t dressed up to the same extent she had when she’d been out with Tharja.

    “The stablehand tells me you’ve been helping with the Pegasi.” Sumia said, “Getting along with any?”

    “Only just.” Cordelia replied. “I’m not sure I’ll be able to pick a new mount out of that lot… we’ll see, I suppose.”

    “You could always check with my Family’s stable.” Sumia offered, “It’s easier to bond with a Pegasus when it’s got its freedom. They get scared in the stables. They don’t like being confined.”

    “The ones in the stables seemed more skittish.” Cordelia agreed, before managing a weak smile.

    “Catira was from your parents farm… I remember when she was just a foal…”

    “She was the first of that years foals to fly.” Sumia said, smiling back, “I thought she’d be a good match for you…”

    “Heh… you knew how to pick ‘em.” She thought about the Pegasus that had gone down not too long ago, and wondered, not for the first time, if there’d been anything she could have done to save the beast. She knew there wasn’t.

   “Maybe I should wait. Pick one from your parents farm. Just like old times.”

   “Or put away the lance.” Sumia suggested, “There’s no war. Chrom’s coming home. There’s not much left for a soldier to do.”

            Side by side, the two Knights made their way out of the courtyard, still talking, and oblivious to the shape of Tharja watching them from a window.

    “And do what?” Cordelia asked, “Farm? I’ve never grown a plant in my life.”

    “You could open up a shop. We could go home… figure something out.”

    “Home…” Cordelia paused, and Sumia trailed off.

    “I’m sorry. I…”

    “No, it’s fine. It’s been years since they died!” Cordelia assured her, forcing a smile. “Gods… the house must be such a disaster right now…”

    “I know my Mom’s kept it in shape.” Sumia offered, “I mean… it could probably be better, but…”

    “The fact that it’s still standing is probably more than enough.” Cordelia replied. “Gods… I honestly haven’t thought much of that place since I left.”

            She remembered the last time she’d been ‘home.’ She wondered if everything would be exactly as she’d left it. If the letters expressing condolences of her Parents Deaths, signed by none other than Chrom’s Father, still sat on the floor where she’d left them.

           

            It’d been a beautiful day, when she’d gotten the news. Since the war had begun, she’d been alone, tending the animals. Her Father, a Mage and her mother a bold Knight had both come scampering the moment the Exalt made a call to arms. Sumia’s mother had at least been kind enough to keep watch over her, so she wasn’t truly alone. At the time, she hadn’t worried at all… at the time, she’d believed everything would be okay.

            She hadn’t even seen the man who delivered the letters. It’d just been sitting by the door when she’d come home from the village. Her Father had perished during a surprise attack south of the border, and her Mother had drowned when her ship went down, a few days later, unaware she’d even become a widow.

            It’d taken the ten year old Cordelia several hours to process the reality that neither of her parents were coming home. She’d left without a word the next day, riding straight for the Halidom to enlist, in the foolish notion that she could seek vengeance. Perhaps that’s what drove others to describe her as a genius. Her Mother had taught her how to fight. She could wield swords, axes, lances, bows and several other weapons with lethal efficiency. Thanks to her Father, her understanding of spells was better than most of the recruits. She’d wanted to be a Knight, like her Mother had been.

            But that heavy armor proved too much for her. She was strong, but not strong enough to carry that load. All the better, as that very armor was what had dragged her mother to the bottom of the sea. She lacked the stamina for runs or long marches, which made her unfit as a mage. At the time, she’d been sent home… dejected, not good enough…

            It wasn’t until she was on her way out the gate when she felt a hand on her shoulder, and first met the steely gaze of Phila, who asked her a single question.

   “If you can’t run, can you fly?”

            The war had ended before she had ever seen combat. Perhaps that was Phila’s doing, not wanting to thrust a child into war. But she’d still given Cordelia a chance, and since then, she’d never looked back.

 

            As the two Knights left the palace, Tharja watched them, following far enough away so they wouldn’t notice her. She told herself she shouldn’t… to at least try and trust Cordelia… but it was difficult.

           

            The fair offered nothing Cordelia hadn’t seen in previous years, or more recently, the day before, with Tharja. Sumia made for more cheerful company, however. They played many of the same games, enjoyed some sweets, as well as a few more intoxicating delights, although Sumia seemed to indulge just a little more than her company. Never once did either of them notice Tharja watching from afar.

            Sometime after noon, the two wandered towards the same bridge where Cordelia had watched the fireworks with Tharja the night before. Sumia leaned against the stone railing, and looked out over the river. Boats floated lazily beneath the bridge, each one with exactly two people, usually a man and a woman, but Cordelia spotted some exceptions. Some with two men. Others with two women. Some with entire families.

    “You know… I always dreamed of sharing one of those boats with someone I loved…” Sumia sighed, propping herself up on her elbows. “It’d be like a scene out of a romance novel, wouldn’t it?”

    “I’d always imagined so.” Cordelia confessed, two visions coming to mind. One of her in one of those boats with Chrom, and the other with Tharja. She felt a little ashamed for favoring the first…

    “I don’t suppose you’ve heard the news, have you?” Sumia asked, and Cordelia frowned.

    “What news?”

    “About Chrom and Robin? They announced it to the troops before I left. It’s…” She trailed off, “A little bit of why I left… they’re engaged.”

            Cordelia gave her a look of alarm. The words struck her like lightning.

    “Engaged?”

            Sumia nodded.

    “They’ll announce it to Ylisstol as soon as they’ve returned, and shortly after… weeks, a month at most… they’ll be wed.”

    “I thought royal engagements lasted longer.” Cordelia said, frowning.

    “I think they made up their minds some time ago… did you notice, Robin’s been seen out of her tent less and less? Her robe is typically bundled up as well… it’s far too warm to be bundled up. I found myself wondering if perhaps she had something to hide.”

    “What? But… Chrom wouldn’t… not out of wedlock…” She paused, knowing damn well that he would.

     “I’m not sure.” Sumia admitted, “I just got that suspicion. She’s seemed a little more vibrant as well.” The girl laughed, despite it sounding forced.

    “Well… I either way, I suppose those silly fairy tale notions need to be done away with sooner or later. We can’t all find a prince. I don’t think there’s enough to go around.”

            Cordelia silently agreed. But she’d known long ago that fairy tales weren’t real. Still, she’d never expected to have lost Chrom to Robin of all people… a small part of her hated the woman, and another small part of her felt a pang of pride. Tharja had cared for Robin like she’d cared for Chrom. They’d both lost the object of their affections… and yet they had each other, didn’t they? Perhaps that was something.

    “Chrom and I always got on so well, though… he was always so kind to me… even if I wasn’t much of a soldier.” Sumia murmured, and looked at Cordelia.

    “Sometimes I thought he was the only man who could’ve… actually loved me…” She seemed embarrassed to admit that to anyone else.

    “Don’t beat yourself down with that rubbish.” Cordelia replied, resting a hand on her shoulder. “There’s plenty to love about you. You’re compassionate, you put your all into everything you do! There’s a lot of people in this world who don’t even come close to being as amazing as you are, don’t you ever forget that. Anyone would be lucky to have you, Sumia.”

            The girls eyes lit up, and sent a small, easily dismissed flutter through Cordelia’s heart.

    “You mean that, don’t you?” Sumia asked.

    “Of course I do. I’d be a piss poor best friend if I didn’t.” Cordelia assured her, “Come on. Let’s stop by a tavern and have a drink… to… the health of the Exalt, his new wife, and to the end to our pining days.”

            She cracked a half smile as she said that, and earned a modest giggle from Sumia.

   “Alright… one drink, then.”

 

            One drink very quickly turned to three, for the pair. The first had been for the end of their pining days, as promised. The second, had been for their Knight Sisters, who through death, were denied the chance to join them. The third had been for Phila, and the prospective fourth would be for Emmeryn, because at this point, they were both just making excuses.

            Tharja sat nearby, her back to the two of them, and nursed a Feroxi coffee, the good sort, made with imported chocolate cream liquor, and listened as they reminisced about their Knight Sisters, and past festivals. She felt guilty… she’d never felt guilty following Robin, but here, it felt as if she was intruding. Yet she couldn’t leave. Hearing these tales fascinated her. It made her feel more… connected, to Cordelia.

  
            As she drank, Sumia remembered another visit, to this same tavern. It’d been after a night of harsh team building exercises, involving multiple squadrons. Though she had not been assigned to one at the time, Sumia had been included as a trainee, and paired with a more advanced Pegasus Knight.

            She remembered how sore her muscles had been after that day, and how good the ale had tasted afterwards. She remembered when Cordelia had come in with her partner for the day. The two of them had been laughing and talking as if they’d been friends for years. She’d even formally introduced her to Sumia, and they’d all gotten alone quite well. She recalled how unusually Cordelia had acted with that other knight as well.

            She’d attributed it to the alcohol at the time. But she swore the other knight had a hand resting on Cordelia’s leg, moving inwards towards her thigh. She’d thought so little of it, but now she wondered…

            In the weeks that followed, she’d seen Cordelia spending a lot of time with that particular Knight as well. They’d often retire at the same time of evening, and sometimes visit each other’s rooms in the barracks on off days, or after training. In hindsight, it all seemed so suspect. That Knight sister hadn’t been the first soldier she’d seen Cordelia spending time with like that. Every now and then, she’d befriend another soldier. And for a few weeks, she’d seem so close to them, before they drifted apart. Still friends, but not like before. Sometimes, it was a man, other times, a woman. It made her wonder.

            She took another sip of her drink, and only barely noticed Cordelia’s hand waving in front of her face.

   “Sumia? You still in there?” She heard her calling, and blinked, before looking at Cordelia.

    “O-Oh… yeah, I was just thinking.”

    “I thought you were falling asleep on me!” Cordelia teased, and nudged her.

    “No, just… thinking about what you said earlier.” Sumia said, managing a sheepish smile. “I mean, if there’s no war… why not settle down, right? No better way to get over something than getting out there.”

    “I suppose.” Cordelia shrugged. “Why? Already got someone in mind?”

    “I don’t know.” Sumia confessed, “There’s some good men out there… maybe I’m not really looking for a man, per say…” She looked at Cordelia.

    “Do you think that’d be… wrong? Strange? Trying to love a woman?”

            A strange look crossed Cordelia’s face, and from her spot, Tharja perked up.

     “I don’t think so.” Cordelia said, “Some people do it. There’s no laws saying it’s wrong.”

    “But do you think could you do it?” Sumia asked.

    “I already know I can.” Cordelia replied, not missing a beat, although she paused as soon as she said it, wondering if she’d shared too much.

            Unseen to either of them, a small smile crossed Tharja’s lips.

            Sumia quietly reflected on what Cordelia had said… Maybe… maybe…

    “Maybe we should carve each other some rings… huh?” Sumia said it partially as a joke, and Cordelia laughed, but neither one was sure if it really was a joke.

    “I’ll have to give that one a pass.” Cordelia said with a chuckle. “Don’t abandon all hope just yet.”

            Tharja tensed up, biting her lip, but saying nothing. At least Cordelia’s rejection brought her some comfort. She’d heard enough for now. She left some money on the table to cover the coffee, and rose from her seat, leaving without a word. As she departed, Cordelia’s head shifted just a little, noting the absence of someone in the tavern. But she made no indication that she knew anything more.

 

            The tavern wound up being the end for their day. Though the two had drank about the same, Sumia didn’t handle it quite as well as Cordelia did, and leaned on her on the walk back to the castle. The fireworks went off in the distance, and the two drunken knights sang and waved to them, as if they could care.

            In the barracks, they noticed more signs of life than before. Miriel mentored Ricken in one room, and there were signs that Gaius was back, given that Sumia’s pie from that morning was gone without any explanation. No doubt, they’d all gone on ahead of the rest of the Shepherds to return home.

            Cordelia led Sumia to her room, and helped her get her boots off, before laying her down on her bed. Sumia, for a few moments, got to enjoy the sensation of being held close to someone. She’d never noticed how strong Cordelia was before, nor how nice her perfume was. She’d fallen asleep before Cordelia had even left the room… but it was the last thing she thought of before consciousness slipped away from her.

 

            With Sumia passed out, and tucked in, Cordelia returned to her own room. She felt tipsy, but not too seriously drunk. She raised a hand in greeting as she passed someone in the hall, although she only barely registered who.

            Once in her own room, she lit the small fireplace she had, and reflected on her surroundings for a moment. For so long, this _had_ been home for her. Not this room specifically, but these barracks. A few floors down below was where the common guards slept. The Shephard’s themselves had once been something far greater than the meager force Chrom commanded, and their barracks consisted of a small wing of the castle. The small room Cordelia had claimed for herself was no grander than any other, but it, and the beds and chests down below had constituted her home for almost ten years now. Returning to that other place… it seemed almost too foreign a concept to even consider.

            Her train of thought was derailed when she felt Tharja’s arms around her again, and stumbled against the smaller woman’s weight.

    “Were you waiting for me?” Her words were just a little slurred.

    “What if I was?” Tharja asked. “What if I was right here in this room?”

    “All day, huh?” Cordelia’s voice held a knowing hint to it, and Tharja paused, trying to decipher if Cordelia knew where she’d actually been.

            The Knight studied the sharp features of the mage that clung to her. Her dark hair that framed her face, her dour look, hiding other emotions that were easily betrayed by her dark eyes. 

            Cordelia smiled, and raised a hand up to cup Tharja’s cheek, before kissing her. She closed the door behind her, to make sure there wouldn’t be any observers.

    “Was the fair as fun the second time around?” Tharja asked, her voice a little breathy, once their lips parted.

     “I think I enjoyed it more the first time…” Cordelia mused. Being with Sumia had been fun, no doubt… but their conversation had struck a sourer note than she’d anticipated. Not that she blamed Sumia for that.

    “Did you?” The question answered every question Tharja had, and the mage tried to look away in shame, only to feel Cordelia pulling her closer.

    “Did I lie?” Cordelia asked,

    “No…” Tharja murmured, “When did you notice…”

    “As you left the Tavern. There was a mirror behind the bar… I caught a glimpse of your face. I thought I recognized that cloak you were wearing…”

            Ashamed, Tharja could only get out a quiet apology.

    “I’m sorry… I shouldn’t have…”

    “No. You shouldn’t have… but I don’t care that you did. On the contrary. I’m a little glad. I had nothing to hide. You saw that.”  
            Tharja nodded.

    “No… I should have trusted you…”

    “Mmhm.” Cordelia loosened her grip. “Next time. Just ask if you can go with us. I’m sure Sumia would have preferred the extra company…” Cordelia realized she would have liked it too. It could have been Tharja, or anyone else. Just to have some extra company would have been something.

    “I’ve never been one for social gatherings…” Tharja confessed, “This was… easier, I suppose.” She frowned, before asking, “You’re not… angry?”

    “Annoyed.” Cordelia corrected, “But not angry.”

    “It won’t happen again.” Tharja promised her voice still quiet, and Cordelia rewarded that with another kiss.

   “I trust you… and I trust you to trust me from now on.”

            Tharja could taste the alcohol on her lips. It wasn’t strong, but it was there, and she didn’t quite mind it. She savored the sensation of the knights lips against hers, and felt herself leaning against her body. She felt Cordelia’s hand run along her side, resting on her hip, but going no further. As their kiss broke, it seemed as if Cordelia was considering something for a moment.

Indeed, there were a lot of things going through the Knights head. Thoughts about Chrom. Tharja and the future. Anger, the rush of adrenaline from a simple kiss… and lust.

    “I’m going to show you something…” Cordelia said quietly, pressing Tharja against the door to her room.

    “O-Oh?”  
    “To make sure this doesn’t happen again… I’m going to show you that I’m willing to commit to this…” She brushed Tharja’s hair out of her face. She thought about Chrom again… handsome Chrom. Strong Chrom… she’d never have him. But she’d known that from the start. Tharja was in her arms now. Trembling, blushing, wanting… she was beautiful, in her way, and more devoted than Chrom could ever be, even in her wildest fantasies. She could never throw away years of pining. Years of fantasies, and moaned names during quiet masturbation… but she could seek something else.

            She kissed Tharja again, and the hand resting on the mages hip drifted down between her legs, as she tugged up her skirt.

    “C-Cordelia…” The name caught in Tharja’s throat, and she felt the younger girl’s head rest in her shoulder, as her fingers slid down under her smallclothes, and rubbed her sex. She toyed with Tharja’s clit, pressing her hard against the door as she massaged her.

            She slid a single finger inside, and Tharja’s arms wrapped around her neck, squeezing her tight.

    “Cordelia… please…”

            She kissed the crook of her neck, fingering her gently, and savoring the shaky breaths and little trembles Tharja gave as she pleasured her.

    “Does it feel good?” She whispered in her ear.

     “Y-yes…”  
     “Do you want more?”

     “Yes!”

            Her finger moved faster, but she knew it wouldn’t be enough. She kissed Tharja once more, and got down to her knees, lifting her skirt again, and pausing her ministrations only briefly, as she tugged down Tharja’s smallclothes.

            As her tongue pressed against her inner folds, no foreplay this time, she went straight for the kill, she heard Tharja let out a gasp. A hand reached up to clasp Tharja’s, as she ate the mage out. Though both were almost fully dressed, the contact felt even more intimate than if they’d both been fully nude.

            Cordelia tenderly sucked at Tharja’s clit, the darkness under her skirt all but blinded her, leaving her with nothing but taste, and touch and sound and smell to go by. She didn’t mind it in the slightest. The faint, but pleasant aroma of another woman’s sex only served to make her even more lustful, the cries and moans from Tharja, along with the needful squeezes of her hand, indicated that she was doing her job perfectly.

     “More…p-please…more…” Tharja whispered, “Almost… A-almost…”

            When Tharja came, her words cut out, being replaced with a whimper. Her legs trembled, and Cordelia pulled back, fingers still inside her, and teasing her. She pulled Tharja’s skirt away from her head, looking up at the woman, and coaxing her down onto the ground with her.

            Tharja’s breaths came in eager pants, and she seemed grateful not to have to stand any longer. Her legs were trembling so much, that standing had become a chore. Cordelia admired her in this post orgasmic state. It was like so much had changed about her, in just the span of a few moments. She giggled, and kissed the mage’s lips, her own still wet with Tharja’s juices.

            Her tongue slipped into Tharja’s mouth, and she weakly returned the gesture, her hand still gripping Cordelia’s, as if she was mortified of letting go.

            As their lips parted, Cordelia smiled at her, before sitting back on her haunches, and unbuttoning her dress, effortlessly sliding it off of her, leaving her in little more than her smallclothes and her boots.

            With the dress removed, she rose to her feet, abandoning her boots as well, as she tended to the fireplace. She looked over at Tharja, before sitting down by the fireplace and gesturing for her to come closer. The mage obliged, slowly standing, and going to join Cordelia. She was rewarded with another tender kiss.

   “Let’s get you out of that dress…” Cordelia whispered as their lips parted. Tharja could only nod weakly in agreement, as Cordelia tugged at the straps of her dress, gently sliding it off of her.

            She felt… exposed, having her clothes removed like that, but she helped Cordelia do away with the dress, and found herself in nothing more but a bra, and her boots moments later. Her smallclothes were bunched around her ankles, and Cordelia quickly did away with those too, along with her boots.

            The Knight admired her, just like she had before, her soft hands caressing her bare skin as she removed her bra as well. The warmth of the nearby fireplace was lovely, and Tharja was content to bask in both it, and Cordelia’s warmth. She didn’t even fully mind when the Knight left her to bring a few pillows and blankets from the bed, to make their spot by the fire just a little more comfortable.

    “Like something out of a romance book…” Tharja murmured, not sure if she liked it or not.

    “Too tacky?” Cordelia asked, “We could always move to the bed.”

     “No… I like this…” Tharja murmured, leaning into her. She tugged at the strap of Cordelia’s bra, and the Knight helped her remove it. The garment was tossed aside. 

     “You’re here… so I’m happy.” She leaned in to steal a kiss from Cordelia, something the Knight happily obliged her in.

     “Ready to go a little further?” She asked, and Tharja nodded. She expected it to be like before… scissoring and a shared orgasm… but no.

            Smiling, Cordelia got up, and went towards the nightstand of the bed. Tharja raised her head to look, and saw Cordelia strip away the last of her smallclothes, before taking out a small harness, and a smooth, probably hand carved wooden object. She’d seen them in some shops… a dildo, for lack of a better term, but she’d never had the nerve to purchase one. Cordelia however, clearly had.

            She lay on her side, watching as she fastened the harness around her waist, and the dildo into the harness. Cordelia noticed a look of nervousness on Tharja’s face, and paused.

    “Would you prefer it if we didn’t…”

    “No! No… I want to!” She protested, “I’ve just… never had anything like that…” She was blushing, and unable to say the name of the wooden object strapped between Cordelia’s legs. Her cheeks flushed even redder as Cordelia drew closer and knelt on the little pile of blankets they’d set up. Tharja’s legs willingly spread as Cordelia came down on top of her. She wrapped her arms around her once more, burying her head in her shoulder as Cordelia guided the wooden cock into her.

            It felt different than she’d imagined it would. She’d expected something course and rough… but this was smooth and filling. It entered her slowly, filling her up, before Cordelia started to thrust. Tharja let out a gasp of pleasure, her arms and legs wrapping tightly around Cordelia as she made love to her.

            This was different than the tribbing had been. There was something primal there. A sort of animal lust. Grinding flesh on flesh, but this felt different… not better, not worse. This was more methodical. Cordelia’s movements were a little shaky, marred by the alcohol she’d consumed, but she knew what she was doing, and she kept it gentle.

    “Does it feel good?” She whispered, and Tharja nodded, a whimper of pleasure escaping her as Cordelia went deeper. She’d never felt a pleasure like this before… and she loved it.

   “H-harder…” The request barely even sounded as if it was coming from her mouth, but Cordelia obliged her.

            For Cordelia, she couldn’t deny how lovely it was, seeing someone beneath her trembling and needing her… she wanted to cum so badly, but she could take care of that later, after she’d taken care of Tharja.

            Slowly, Tharja’s hips rose to meet every one of Cordelia’s thrusts. She looked up at her with half lidded eyes, bottoming out on the wooden cock with a gasp. Her arms squeezed tighter, before letting go. Their lips met, and Tharja’s fingers trailed down Cordelia’s back.

            Every movement was a new rapture, and a climax was not far behind. Tharja’s breath hitched, as the wooden cock hit deep with every stroke, pleasuring her in ways she’d never felt before. She let out a strangled cry, nails digging into Cordelia’s back. She wanted to gasp. To say her name, but she couldn’t even find the words…

            Cordelia smiled, and kissed along her neck as she came, giggling softly, and letting Tharja ride it out. Her limbs slackened, letting her go at last, and Cordelia pulled back, admiring the visage of Tharja, bathed in warm firelight, nude and panting from her second orgasm of the night.

    “Not bad for a first time, huh?” She crooned, and Tharja weakly nodded.

    “Y-yes…” She watched as Cordelia unbuckled the strap on, eager for what, if anything would come next.

    “It felt good, didn’t it?”

            Tharja could only nod, and leaned into Cordelia’s touch when her hand caressed her cheek.

   “B-but what about you?” The words were a little broken up, and Cordelia smiled when she said them.

    “You wanna take care of me?” She asked, faux innocence in her voice. Tharja merely nodded.

    “I-I wanna take care of you…”

Still smiling, Cordelia leaned in for another sweet kiss.

    “I’ll let you…” She crooned, “Do you want that? Do you want to taste me?”

            Eagerly, Tharja nodded, her heart skipping a beat. Twice, Cordelia had gone down on her… and she’d be lying if she pretended she didn’t want to return the favor.

    “I want to taste you…” Tharja whimpered, her lips just inches from Cordelias, and as the other woman crawled on top of her once more, her legs straddling her head, she only prayed she wouldn’t disappoint.

            Her fingers explored Cordelias sex. A small tuft of red hair was just above her vulva. She started out slow, kissing her vulva, and finding her clit, before starting to suck. A pair of fingers explored her entrance, working their way inside and mimicking the motions Cordelia had used on her. She heard the woman above her let out a moan of contentment, which only served to encourage her.

            It’d been too long since Cordelia had felt a touch like this. She savored it, loving the gentle sensation of Tharja’s lips on her clit, and her fingers in just the right spots… She wanted to buck her hips against the younger woman’s face, to grind against her, to fuck her, but she refrained for the time being…

            As Tharja continued, her fingers sank into her hair as her hips trembled.

    “Tharja…” The name tumbled so easily from her lips, and Cordelia felt elated just saying it. Hearing it served only to spur her lover on, as she redoubled her efforts.

            Cordelia lowered her head, whispering quiet encouragements, loving the touch of the other womans lips and tongue and fingers… it was everything she needed.

    “Don’t stop… d-don’t stop… almost… you’re doing so good… r-right there… T-Tharja…”

            When at last she did climax, it washed over her suddenly. She let out a cry of pleasure, and pressed her body down against Tharja’s face. The mage didn’t stop, and Cordelia didn’t want her to stop!

            When at last, she pulled away, she barely had the energy to even move. She lay down at Tharja’s side, and pulled her close. Both women were trembling and breathing heavily, but both were satisfied.

            Their limbs tangled together, the fire washing over their bodies, but bothering neither of them. Their fingers gently raked through each other’s hair as their eyes met.

            For a while, they talked. Not about anything much. Whatever came to mind. They were close enough to kiss, and more than a few times, they did kiss, but neither had the energy to do anything more than that.

            Cordelia’s eyes were drooping, Tharja knew she was dozing off, but she didn’t mind. She would’ve been happy to sleep right there, at Cordelia’s side. Sumia crossed both of their minds, but neither mentioned her.

            As Cordelia drifted off, a smile on her lips, Tharja kissed her one last time.

     “I love you…”

            She didn’t know if Cordelia heard her, and the moment she said it, Tharja wondered if she’d said it too soon. After a little bit of hesitation, she decided that it didn’t matter. She’d meant it, and why should she lie to the one she loved?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter wound up being a lot longer than I anticipated. I plotted out the rest of this fic and will get to it when I've got some more time. I'm really amazed how many people have read it though! I hope you've liked it, and hope you'll like this, and what comes next.


	6. Homecoming

            Cordelia awoke early, as usual, and felt a lingering warmth from the coals of the fireplace, and the more immediate warmth of Tharja beside her.

            The Mage’s arms were wrapped closely around her, and her head nuzzled into Cordelia’s chest. She studied the younger girl clinging to her, before running her fingers through her hair.

            She thought about the day before. She thought about last night, and sighed. She admired Tharja for a few more moments, gently caressing her, before pressing a kiss to her cheeks, close to her mouth, before tucking some blankets over Tharja’s body, and getting up.

            She’d never slept on the floor like this before, and she felt a little sore from it, but otherwise, she felt rather refreshed. She stretched out, hearing her spine pop, and looked back at Tharja as she slept, before turning and finding the pajamas she usually wore. She put them on, if only to keep up appearances, if nothing else, and brought a clean change of clothes for afterwards.

            She spotted no one in the corridors of the Shepherds barracks as she made her way to the bathing area, and was allowed to bathe alone. That was for the best. Tharja consumed most of her thoughts. She remembered the taste of her sex, the sounds of her moans, and the way she clung to her. She’d enjoyed all of it, no doubt…

            But something tugged at the corner of her mind. As she’d started to drift off, she’d swore she’d heard Tharja whisper to her.

    ‘ _I love you.’_

Her heart fluttered. No one had ever said that to her before, and now that they had… she was afraid.

            Love was a strong word. It had to be. She knew she’d never say it lightly, and didn’t know if Tharja would do the same, but she didn’t believe she would. The mage had barely even spoken to her before Cordelia had saved her life. She’d barely spoken to anyone who wasn’t Robin. Her obsession was singular and consuming, and becoming its focus didn’t seem an easy feat. She’d always claimed Robin to be someone who was attractive to her in both body and mind, and there was no doubt that Tharja was fairly intelligent. She was one of the few in the army who could generally understand Miriel, and Cordelia sometimes thought the two had some sort of odd friendship.

Cordelia had only found herself in Tharja’s sights for her selflessness. It’d only be natural to save the life of a comrade. She’d have done it for anyone, but that act seemed to have been enough to win not only Tharja’s obsession, but her love.

            And Cordelia didn’t know if she could return that love, if that was what it truly was. She found Tharja attractive, unquestionably. Her curves were lovely, and she loved the way she responded her, her moans, her gasps, the way she clung to her… but that was lust. Truthfully, she wasn’t entirely sure what she thought of Tharja beyond that.

            At times, when she wanted to be, the mage could be cute. She could even be sweet when she let her guard down. But was that enough? She had no idea.

            Sighing, she sank into the water, and contemplated it. She’d still be contemplating it as she lathered and rinsed herself, and as she left the bath. She expected Tharja to have awoken by then. She might even be waiting in the kitchen.

            What if she asked about what she’d said last night? What if she asked for affirmation? Cordelia’s heart skipped a beat at the thought, and not out of elation, but fear.

            She didn’t have an answer. Not just to whether or not she truly loved Tharja, or even could love her, but to anything! To last night, to her promise to ‘try.’

            No. She couldn’t do this now…

            She dressed herself in the bathing area, before making her way off the castle grounds. Forget breakfast. She could deal with that later… she wanted the familiarity of her training routine, and hoped it might somehow give her an answer.

 

 

            Tharja had watched as Cordelia left, feigning sleep to admire her beloved. She’d done everything she could to suppress a smile when she’d kissed her, and only after the door closed, did she rise.

            Cordelia’s room looked barely lived in, aside from some of sheets having been removed from the bed to accommodate them last night, and the embers of the fire. Everything was barely touched, and much of it had a thin layer of dust. The room looked almost perfect.

            Wrapping herself in the comforter, Tharja approached Cordelia’s bed, studying it, before laying down on the mattress. It was soft and comfortable, but felt barely slept in. She pressed her face against the sheets, and smelt, although only vaguely, Cordelia against the fabric.

            God… every touch from before made her want the Knight even more than she already did. A hand slipped between her legs, almost unconsciously, as she savored it, and quietly wished she wouldn’t be intruded upon by the rooms owner. She supposed she could pass it off as her going back to sleep, but… why risk overstaying her welcome?

            Her ministrations stopped the moment she became aware of them, and Tharja felt her cheeks flush with slight shame. Was it wrong to do _that_ in here? On Cordelia’s bed no less? Even with what they’d already done… She didn’t want it to be wrong, but she wasn’t sure, and she didn’t want to risk it.

            She studied the bedside table, and then looked over at the strap on from last night, close to where they’d slept. It made her wonder…

            She opened the drawer it had come from. As expected, the contents were neatly organized inside little boxes. She spotted several rather mundane, yet private things. Spares of basic toiletries that she left untouched, and one box that looked as if it was usually bolted, although in this case, was left unlocked. Nothing would have stopped her anyways, and so Tharja lifted the top, examining the contents.

            Inside, there was obvious space for the harness and the smooth dildo Cordelia had used. There were also a few similar toys. Some smaller, some larger, and some oddly shaped. It took Tharja a few moments to realize that those were for a similar purpose, just in another entrance. Her eyes widened, and she decided it may be best not to touch anything.

            Everything looked clean, unused even, but she couldn’t be sure. Near the bottom of the box, she found a few scraps of paper that seemed fairly recent. One, was a torn and rolled up piece of a particular poster of Chrom. One commissioned by Frederick earlier in the war effort that depicted the now Exalt nude, although not immodestly so, with Falchion in hand and a call to arms written below him. The poster had become something of an in joke among the Shepherds, to Chrom’s ire, and Tharja wasn’t surprised Cordelia had it among other relevant materials.

            Quietly, she closed the box, and the drawer, before collecting the abandoned dildo and putting it by the bed, just out of sight to a casual observer, but where Cordelia would find it. She suspected she’d want to clean it, naturally. She wasn’t exactly an expert but she’d heard it was best to do so between uses, with such objects. Cordelia’s modest collection certainly implied that they’d seen some fair use, and perhaps not just from the Knight who owned them.

            On one hand, it disappointed Tharja to know what she’d shared with Cordelia had not been a first for her. On the other… it excited her, having a lover with a little experience, and she’d have been lying if she ever said that the other toys didn’t intrigue her.

            She glanced at the door, before abandoning the comforter around her, deciding her earlier ministrations and her fantasies could wait just a little longer. Doing it right there on Cordelia’s bed held an air of eroticism to it… as did the idea of Cordelia finding her and offering to ‘help’ but that was hardly realistic. In all likelihood, Cordelia would have been put off by such a sight.

            No, Tharja found her clothes and dressed herself, before peeking out of Cordelia’s room, and slipping into the empty hallway towards her own bedchambers.

 

 

            Tharja thought she might even escape undisturbed, when she spotted someone coming down the hall, just outside her room.

            In most other situations, she may have been happy to see Miriel. Tharja didn’t quite regard her as a friend, but she didn’t quite mind her company. Miriel’s arrival was little more than coincidence.

            The other mage noticed her quickly, but didn’t smile, or show much in the way of acknowledgement until Tharja was close to her door, hoping maybe she’d go unharassed.

    “You copulated with Cordelia last night.”

            She said it so matter of factly, much like someone might say: ‘It’s raining outside.’

Tharja flat out froze on the spot, hand on her doorknob.

     “You really shouldn’t act as though it’s shameful.” Miriel replied, “Even if it is devoid of reproductive purpose, recreational sexual relationships between two individuals of the same gender should still be encouraged, assuming such individuals are so inclined. Physical intimacy strengthens bonds between individuals and… Ah! Perhaps that is why Cordelia endeavored to rescue you the other day!”

She paused, noticing the baffled, or was it mortified, look Tharja was giving her.  
   “It is obvious… your hair is disheveled, which at this hour implies you’ve recently woken up. But your clothes, though disheveled as well, clearly weren’t slept in. That alone suggests you had company last night. However you didn’t leave the barracks, as I didn’t see you come in while I was outside just now, and direction you’re coming from has no exits. Furthermore, aside from my own quarters and Cordelia’s, the other occupants of the apartments down that way should be returning later on today. Within the hour, if my timing is precise, and it usually is. Ergo by process of elimination, you were with Cordelia.”

    “I would appreciate it if you didn’t analyze such things, or announce them so loudly.” Tharja said irritably, glancing back at her, and swore she saw Miriel cracking the slightest smile.

    “If you insist…” She said, “I’d always suspected Cordelia had more than a few Sapphic inclinations. Such behavior is common amongst some Pegasus Knights. Proximity, team building exercises… and you’ve put such behavior proudly on display before…”

    “Miriel!” Tharja warned, and the woman stopped.

    “Fine, fine… but may I at least also inform you to kindly keep the volume of your activities down during evening hours? Those next door may be trying to read.”

            Tharja had gone from completely white, to completely red. Miriel had heard them? Then had still gone off as if she’d deduced such a thing from her current state. Embarrassed didn’t even begin to sum up what Tharja felt.

    “Interesting… drawing attention to your activities seems to aggravate you. Yet last night, you were more than content to announce what was going on…”

    “You weren’t supposed to be listening!” Tharja growled, before opening her door, “If you say a word to anyone, _anyone._ I’ll cut out your tongue!”

    “Ah, true to form… empty threats.” Miriel mused, “Well… my intentions were never to mock you. On the contrary, I only wish to congratulate you on whatever seems to be going on.”

    “You’ve got a strange way of showing it… just leave me alone.” Tharja said, before disappearing into her room. It was only after the shame was completely gone that she’d bother going out again to bathe.

 

            By the time she was washed and fully dressed, it was still morning. She hadn’t seen hide nor hair of Cordelia, and made her way to the kitchen, wondering if it wasn’t too late to do something to help her start her day. A simple breakfast perhaps? Yes! That would do!

            However upon entering the kitchen, she found it occupied by none other than Sumia, who was humming cheerfully as she made pancakes. Her attempt at breakfast seemed to take up much of the kitchen, and Tharja tried to take a step back, but failed to escape Sumia’s attention.

    “Oh! Tharja! Good morning! How are you feeling?” She seemed so chipper… and friendly. It made her a little uncomfortable, but that was nothing new. The smell of fresh pancakes was rather nice… but at the same time, Tharja felt just a little put off by them, and Sumia naturally was already fixing her a plate. She didn’t even seem to mind when Tharja flat out ignored her question.

    “I thought that since everyone’s coming back today, I’d greet them all with a big breakfast! I mean… it’d be nice, wouldn’t it? There’s plenty to go around! I was hoping to see Cordelia by now… but maybe she went out on a run? I know she’s been doing that, trying to keep up with her training routine.”

    “Robin would have fed the troops already.” Tharja said, “She’d have insisted they eat before marching in…”

            At that, Sumia paused.

    “Oh… so they probably won’t be…”

    “No. They won’t.” Tharja said, “You didn’t think this through, did you?”

            But she didn’t believe that… no, she was confident that Sumia had thought it through. That she knew exactly what she was doing. Breakfast for the troops? No… she thought back to what Sumia had said the night before.

            ‘ _Maybe we should carve each other some rings… huh?’_

NO! Breakfast was HER task. Her little gift to Cordelia, not Sumia’s! Tharja’s fists clenched and unclenched. She wanted to scream at this girl.

            ‘ _SHE’S MINE! GET AWAY! YOU CAN’T HAVE HER! SHE’S MINE!’_

But Tharja refrained, and watched as Sumia offered her a plate of pancakes.

    “Well… at least you can have some!”

    “I…” Tharja stopped before she could say anything too cruel. “I suppose…” She accepted the plate. The cakes looked fluffy, and were saturated in too much syrup. They could have done with some fresh fruit, but they tasted alright. Tharja found that out when she ate them in her bedroom.

 

 

            The streets that Cordelia ran were familiar, and she found herself energized as she ran, although it did nothing for her thoughts. She still wasn’t sure just what she felt, or what she wanted. Aside from Chrom, that was… but that was unrealistic. It’d always been unrealistic!

            As she ran, she noticed an emptiness in the streets, and paused as she spotted a crowd near the main street. Her curiosity turned to surprise, as her heart skipped a beat. She drew closer, and managed to get a glimpse at the streets, where the army was incoming. Frederick rode ahead, slow enough to greet the people, but quick enough to reach the castle before Chrom. No doubt to ensure they were prepared for his arrival.

            Some distance behind lingered the rest of the Shepherds, with Chrom and Robin atop their horses in the front. Chrom had polished his armor, and glimmered majestically in the sunlight. At his side, Robin looked the same as always, wearing that tattered cloak, and smiling patiently.

            As they passed nearby, Chrom looked her way. Cordelia didn’t expect him to see her. Why would he? There were so many faces in the crowd but…

    “Cordelia!”

            Frederick likely would have had some sort of fit if he’d seen Chrom do what he did, dismounting his horse, and actually entering the small crowd to pull Cordelia from it.

    “It’s good to see you home safe!”

    “C-Chrom?”

            Gods, her cheeks were flushed straight red. She couldn’t even articulate the words. He greeted her like a close friend, not a soldier. As if he were thrilled she’d been there to see him come home.

    “You look well! Are those training clothes? Back at it already?” He seemed a little surprised, “I suppose I should have expected no less, from one of my best!”

     “Best?”

     “Of course! Here, you should join us! We’re headed back to the Castle! We’ve got something to announce!”

            Cordelia seemed to wake up from her trance. Just enough for her eyes to shift to Robin. Most eyes might not have noticed it, but she did. A bejeweled ring on her finger. She’d seen it’s like before… forged at birth to be given to his beloved… she’d thought about it for so long, wanted it for so long, wanted him for so long…

And here it was, on Robin’s finger

            Cordelia weakly smiled.

    “I-I’d love to join you…” She said softly. That was a lie. She wanted to be alone, to think about things. To process this. But Chrom tugged her by the hand, towards his horse, and let her mount it. He himself mounted up behind Robin. Cordelia found herself enviously eying the way he held her.

    “Let’s hear a cheer!” Chrom said, addressing the crowd, “For one of the bravest Pegasus Knights I’ve had the pleasure to serve alongside! A selfless heroine, worthy of your praise! Cordelia!”

            Of course they cheered. Some chanted her name. In seconds she’d gone from bizarre stranger, to heroine in their eyes. Funny how a few words from the Exalt could do that.

            She rode with them to the castle, only briefly looking backwards to see the faces of friends behind her. Vaike, Virion, Stahl and Sully among others. They cheered for her too, honoring what she’d done and she…

            She hated it.

            She didn’t _want_ this recognition! She didn’t _want_ to be called a hero! She wasn’t one! She was little more than a designated survivor, who’d tried, and failed to justify her survival!

            Phila had died. Emmeryn had died. Her sisters had died… Was _that_ a hero’s legacy? The corpses of those she’d failed? Rumors said Gangrel had left Phila to be picked at by the crows… the closest thing to a Mother she’d had since her own had passed, rotting in the sun like some common animal.

            As for Emmeryn, they’d never recovered the body, and the rumors of what had become of her were too wild and various to say for certain. Some claimed Gangrel had carved out and eaten her heart. Others said he’d displayed her broken body, rotting on a pike, or that he’d buried her in secret. A few disrespectful fools claimed she’d been spotted living in a remote village.

           

           

            The convoy of returning soldiers reached the courtyard of the castle, along with several citizens, come to witness the Exalts return. Cordelia wanted nothing more than to leave. To be done with this hell. But she stayed, if only to seem kind.

            She knew what would come next. Chrom entered the castle with Robin at his side, and emerged on a balcony where he could address the masses. The words he said were a blur. Easily forgotten. But their purpose was clear.

            Sumia had already told her the truth. They were engaged, and they would be married within the month. Though no word was said on the matter… Cordelia knew the why of that.

            No doubt it had happened in a tent. Perhaps not too far from where Cordelia herself had been at the time. She’d fantasized about such intimacy with Chrom for so long, and though she tried to be happy for them, she wound up hating Robin for having what she never could have.

 

 

            When the announcement was over, the crowd had dispersed, and the rest of the Shepherds gone inside to greet their friends and companions, Cordelia stayed away.

            She’d briefly remained to say hello, and to congratulate both Chrom and Robin in person. It wasn’t easy to smile and eat crow, but she did it anyways. Then, when the opportunity arrived, she left with the excuse of continuing her training. She could have cared less about training though.

She went to the river, and sat on the bank, staring across the water in utter silence. No better place to think than right there, after all, right?

She’d known this would happen. She’d expected it. Why did it hurt her? Perhaps because even if she’d known better, she’d still wanted it, and it’d still been remotely possible. Now? That possibility was gone.

For an instant, she missed Tharja. She wanted her touch. Wanted to hold her close, if for no other reason than the fact that Tharja would be _hers._ She would have gladly taken any of the other Knight Sisters or lovers she’d spent time with in the past as well, but Tharja hung most prevalently in her mind. Not only because she was the most recent, but because she’d wanted her… enough to give her the same treatment she’d given Robin.

Cordelia sighed, and reminded herself of all she’d promised Tharja. To try, that was what she’d offered, and time and time again she’d told herself she’d commit to this. She told herself that again, but this time it felt more solid. More real.

Maybe she’d need some substance… something solid to build this relationship on. Something other than the sex. She thought about what Sumia had said before. Thought about how crowded the barracks would be… and the awkward conversations that may come about, were anyone to catch them…

She had an idea.


	7. Leaving Together

The house had looked exactly as Cordelia remembered. The interior was clean and maintained, no doubt thanks to the efforts of Sumia’s Mother. She had now owned many possessions even back when she’d been young. Moving the few she had from the Halidom would be simple.

She visited the room she’d had as a child. It wasn’t her room anymore. Just a room that had once housed a red haired little girl. She spotted old dolls that sat perfectly on their shelves. A few practice weapons which were now far too small for her, and beginners spell tomes.

She picked up a Pegasus carved from wood, looking at it for a few moments, and closing her eyes. She set it back down, before turning to leave the room.

She wandered into her Parents old room, next. The bed was made, but a little dusty. It looked clean, but not lived in, like it used to be. She laid down on the bed, crawling towards the center, like she had when she was young. She expected it to feel wrong… feel like some sort of defiance or violation. But it was exactly the opposite.

She was comfortable. There was a faint, possibly even imaginary scent against the comforter. She studied it close, thinking, before deciding that it was a replacement for the original. The stitching was familiar, most likely the work of Sumia’s mother. That made her smile. She made a note to thank her for that later.

After touring the house, she stepped outside. There was an old dirt road a fair distance away, but Cordelia paid it little mind. She scanned the area around her. Nothing else but fields and trees. She could see Pegasi in a corral in the distance. They could have flown away if they so chose, but Pegasi were known for their loyalty, especially to those who treated them with respect. Sumia’s family had known that better than anyone, and Cordelia had always loved the way their Pegasi had wandered free. Sometimes they left… but always they returned home.

She glanced at the house once more. Even after all these years, it still looked like home. Then, she made her way towards the farm in the distance. She’d checked her funds before she’d left the Halidom, and she knew that if they’d even accept, she could afford to pay them for their years of kindness. But she doubted they would accept. That was fine by her… there were other ways to repay their kindness that she could think of. A pair of strong, able hands who were good with the Pegasi would no doubt always be appreciated.

Cordelia didn’t realize until she was most of the way to Sumia’s parents farm that she was smiling, in anticipation of the reunion.

 

 

Cordelia had stayed for supper. She’d entertained her hosts with stories of their daughters heroism during the war, embellishing things, perhaps more than was necessary, but it certainly made them happy to think of their daughter as a war hero and a savior. That was something.

She’d returned to The House… no, she’d returned Home, afterwards. It felt as if it’d be natural, walking inside, and falling asleep in her old bedroom. Or her parents former bedroom if the bed had been too small. Instead, she took the horse she’d ridden there out of the stable, and prepped it for the ride back to the Halidom. She could spend the night another time. She needed to gather her things, and possibly even more than that, and she wanted to be back to the Halidom before nightfall.

 

 

Tharja had been given only a minimal explanation to where Cordelia had gone, and she had tried not to dwell on it. There had been an inkling of doubt, an inkling of fear that Cordelia was leaving and wouldn’t return to her. But she’d spent the day working on her spells and reading.

She’d been starting to doze when she heard a knock on her door. Her head rose up, and she slowly got out of her seat, checking through the peephole in the door. Her lips curled into a smile when she saw Cordelia outside.

    “Welcome back.” She crooned as she opened the door, reaching out to pull Cordelia inside with her. As soon as the door was closed, she greeted her with a deep kiss, and was thrilled to feel Cordelia returning it.

    “How was your trip?” She asked, as their lips parted, “Find what you were looking for?”

   “Yes, actually.” Cordelia said, smiling softly at her, “I was hoping to talk to you about it, actually… I wanted to know something.”

    “Anything you’d like.” The mage replied, “I’m an open book,” She went in for another kiss, this one brief and chaste, wanting to feel her lover reciprocate it, and she wasn’t disappointed.

    “I went home… the place I grew up.” She said, “It’s been so long since I’ve been back. It’s still empty. I was thinking of moving back in. Make it a home again, you know?”

            Tharja’s brow furrowed.

   “You’re leaving, then.” She said, her mood vanishing, “May I ask why?”

   “It’s just time.” Cordelia said. It was easier than to tell her all the true reasons, and she suspected Tharja knew anyways, “I’m not leaving you, though…”

            She took her by the hands.

   “It’s a big house. Big enough for two, and it’d be easier if I had someone with me.”

   “Then you want me with you!” Tharja said, her smile quickly returning.

   “If you’re willing to, then I am.”

   “I am!” Tharja’s arms wrapped around her, “Of course I am!”

            She kissed her again, savoring this joy she felt, and loving the way Cordelia reciprocated her every touch. It felt different, than before. As if there was more in it, more affection. She wondered if it was on account of Chrom’s engagement, but quickly dismissed the idea.

    “I need a day, maybe two to finalize things… the sooner, the better.” Cordelia said, “We can leave then. Sumia’s family lives nearby. They’ve offered to help with the move. I imagine Sumia might accompany us. I know she’s been eager to return home as well.

            Tharja tried not to frown, tried not to show any display of anger as she heard that, but Cordelia saw through her.

    “You don’t need to worry about her, alright?” She said, “I know you’re thinking about it… I know you are. She’s a friend, a very good friend, but nothing more than that. I’m with you.”

            She cupped Tharja’s cheek, and the woman leaned into her touch. It felt so warm… so nice. She thought about Chrom again, wondering if Cordelia was only bothering with her since he was taken, as a means to distance herself from that.

   “You’re with me…” Tharja repeated, saying it more in reassurance of herself than anything else.

    “I promised you’d I try. I’d give this a chance. I’ve done that, and I want it to work. Us, I want this to work.”

            Tharja nodded slowly. Cordelia sounded sincere… she didn’t sound like she was lying, and maybe, just maybe she wasn’t.


	8. Settling In

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not my favorite chapter I've written. Been super busy lately with other things and haven't had as much time to work on this.

The first few days back at the farmhouse were quiet. The move back in had gone off smoothly. Sumia had, as promised, helped them load up a cart with what few things Cordelia wanted to take with her. Tharja’s spellbooks and cursing tools took up more space, but even between the two of them they barely filled a cart.

            Cordelia found herself staring thoughtfully at the few things that she truly considered hers. She’d never thought about her life in terms of possessions before. But seeing just how little she really had seemed… humbling in a strange sense.

            Being in that house again, and sleeping in her parent’s bed had felt wrong. But not wrong enough to truly deter Cordelia. Tharja’s company wasn’t unwelcome, in fact, Cordelia could sense the mages unease in the new environment, and she empathized. She felt the same way, despite having grown up in that very house.

            They spent the first few days setting up what few possessions they had. Of course they spoke, and Cordelia had even managed to get a couple of quiet laughs out of Tharja, but she could tell they were both questioning this.

            For Tharja, the period of doubt vanished after just a few short days. She grew accustomed to the new environment quickly, and with Cordelia all to herself, let herself be as affectionate as she pleased.

            Cordelia appreciated it, actually. She found the lazy mornings, where Tharja clung to her to keep her close, to help with this feeling that threatened to drag her down. The warmth of another persons body kept her grounded and helped her relax, although in the back of her mind, the surroundings that she only vaguely remembered felt so alien. It all felt like so much…

            The first few nights were spent adjusting to the changes. Neither she nor Tharja slept much. The first night, she could feel the mage clinging to her, silently asking for a deeper intimacy, that Cordelia didn’t have it in her to oblige. With so much on her mind, she didn’t want sex. She wanted balance. Tharja seemed to realize that sooner rather than later.

            The second night, Tharja clung to her again, but it felt less as if she was asking for intimacy, and more like she was trying to provide it. She didn’t say anything. That was what struck Cordelia the most. She’d expected to have seen some sign of insecurity from Tharja, at being turned down for sex. But no. Maybe it was still there, but the mage wouldn’t show it. All she showed was a quiet understanding.

            They took supper with Sumia and her family for the first few nights. They said nothing about the truth of their relationship. Cordelia lied and said she was simply giving Tharja someplace to stay. Tharja maintained the story. Neither of them were sure if they were ready to tell the truth, but Cordelia’s fingers wrapping around Tharja’s under the table, and a kiss when they were alone were enough to ensure the mage that the lies were just that. Lies.

            After taking some time to actually go to the market however, they took their meals in the house. Using that untouched kitchen and cooking together gave the empty house something that it had needed. A memory that they could share.

            After that, bit by bit, it started feeling like a home again. Lazy mornings dragged on as the two women stayed in bed together. Sometimes in their nightclothes, and sometimes with their clothes from the day before on the floor. As one week turned into two, they barely left the house, too enveloped in each other’s company.

            Cordelia didn’t know if it was love, friendship or just blind lust for the nearest person willing to have her, but it was something. She knew that Tharja loved every second of it, and why wouldn’t she? She had someone fully attentive to her. Their lovemaking felt less one sided, and Cordelia found more and more often, Tharja taking control when they were together.

The first time had been wildly erotic. It’d taken Cordelia by surprise when Tharja had rolled her onto her back, and pinned her arms down. The way she’d kissed her had taken her breath away like nothing else ever had, and the grinding of their bodies together, slow and a little nervous at first, but growing more and more aggressive and confident until they’d both climaxed, gasping and panting, clinging to each other desperately…

It didn’t lose its charm the next few times either.

 

 

The novelty of sex on demand faded quickly, and the restlessness set in fairly quickly. While the sex certainly didn’t stop, the women both found themselves looking for ways to occupy their time during the daylight hours.

Cordelia often visited Sumia’s family’s farmhouse, helping out where she could in an effort to repay the kindness that they’d shown her in helping maintain the house all those years. Sumia’s Mother, a doting but kind woman who resembled her daughter in most ways, offered to pay her time and time again, but Cordelia declined her offer. She liked helping, and she liked being around the Pegasi. After the chores were done, sometimes she and Sumia would visit with the animals. She found herself often spending time with a young, nameless stallion that reminded her of Aurora.

Tharja on the other hand, spent some time working on her spells and hexes, which, while certainly not boring, felt as if it wasn’t enough to her. By the end of the third week back, she’d ridden up to the farmhouse with some wood, and talked Cordelia into trying to help her build a market stall. It took them the better part of a day to get it done. Neither of them were carpenters, but they managed to do it, and the next day took it out into town.

By the beginning of the next week, Tharja had already begun making her own living, hexing people in exchange for pay. It proved to be a good arrangement. She could practice her hexes, and get paid for it, while strangers got their lives improved, or worsened depending on who was paying her to do what.  
 

For a while, that was the routine they settled into. Weekday mornings, they would wake up together, usually cuddled close. Cordelia would often be the first one to rise, and start on breakfast while Tharja lounged and then bathed, although sometimes, it was the other way around.

Afterwards, Tharja would go to her stall, and Cordelia would visit Sumia’s family, assisting in whatever ways they needed, from household chores to bigger tasks. They’d work through the day, sometimes meeting for lunch, before parting again. Come evening, they’d both return to the house, which was slowly becoming a Home. Whoever made it back first would cook, although sometimes, they joined Sumia’s family for supper, and sometimes they met at the tavern near Tharja’s stall. Wherever they ate, the nights usually ended with them heading to bed early, and staying up late. Some nights, they spent just enjoying each other’s company. Nothing more intimate than a few kisses or shared laughs. Other nights...

Cordelia was content. This wasn’t anything like the life she’d envisioned for herself… but what was that life really? The life of a soldier, living her life in the barracks, training even though there was no war to fight? The wars were over. Peace had been attained with Plegia. The outer villages in Ylisse were safe from brigands. What purpose did a soldier have? As for her fantasies about Chrom… well, she’d never forgotten him. She doubted she ever would. But she had someone else now, and that was enough for her… better, even.

Tharja was happy, though she’d have a difficult time truly admitting to it. She thought about Robin as frequently as ever… but she found her thoughts to be less demanding, less romantic and more studious. Much like one might think of an idol or mentor. Cordelia provided all the intimacy and romance she could need, and she’d been given no reason to doubt that this was anything but genuine. There was no one so cruel as to play a joke this elaborate, and even if there ever were, it wouldn’t be Cordelia. No, what was between them was sincere. It was genuine… Tharja believed that now. Even when she caught herself questioning it, she had enough evidence to the contrary to dismiss it as little more than a paranoid thought.

As they settled into their life together, finding a way to make it work, both women found themselves feeling something that almost resembled happiness.

 

 

The invitation to the Royal wedding had come a week prior to the event itself. Tharja and Cordelia rode in with Sumia and her family, taking a carriage together, towards the castle. Cordelia hadn’t worn a formal dress in a long time. The crimson gown she’d gotten for herself felt wrong on her, although Sumia seemed so at ease in hers. Tharja had flat out refused to wear a gown of any sort, instead going for a nicer dress than what she usually opted for, one that fit her Plegian background more suitably. In the acrid deserts, weddings seldom required gowns, else the attendees might have passed out from the heat.

The Palace was lit up spectacularly, like Cordelia had never seen before. Guests of all classes, from humble peasants, to lords and ladies arrived for the wedding. Upon their arrival, their carriage was brought to a large stable. Sumia’s family was escorted by some guards to a designated area, while Cordelia, Sumia and Tharja were led to another area, where many other Shepherds were seated.

The three were welcomed warmly by their comrades, who all too enthusiastically shared what had happened during the months where they’d been separated. Vaike had continued training, Stahl and Sully had gone home, although Cordelia noticed a ring on Sully’s finger. She wasn’t sure who it was from though.

Miriel and Ricken had remained in the palace, continuing Rickens training and the boy was all too eager to show off to Tharja what he could do. The Dark Mage actually indulged him too, letting him take her aside to show off. Cordelia watched as he took her by the hand and pulled her away, and actually found herself giggling at how cute it looked.

Donnel, the lovely farmboy turned soldier, had insisted on bringing his beloved Mother to meet the rest of the shepherds, and so she’d be passed around the regular gang, shaking hands with the men and women who’d both saved her sons life, and been saved by her son.

Sumia seemed content to mingle with the other soldiers, chattering eagerly away with them during their reunion. The first glass of wine was in her hand before the wedding ceremony had even begun. Cordelia took to lingering with her, while Tharja was off with Ricken.

 

The wedding ceremony itself was everything Cordelia had ever expected it would be. As she sat beside Tharja and Sumia, with the other shepherds, she was envious, there was no denying that. It was hard not to be envious. For so long she’d envisioned herself in that white dress, exchanging those vows… and that kiss… as the wedding ceremony ended, and Chrom’s lips met Robins, Cordelia couldn’t help but hate Robin just a little bit. That kiss should have been hers…

She felt a hand reach out to grab hers, and squeeze, and looked over to see Tharja beside her, silently reminding her that there was someone who _was_ hers, and hers alone.

 

The afterparty was a different story. Guests mingled inside the castles ballroom. Some chose to dance, others didn’t. Cordelia and Tharja sat together at a table, watching those who did dance, and enjoying the food and the wine.

Cordelia thought about taking Tharja’s hand, and leading her onto the dance floor, but a look at the woman gave no indication that she was interested in dancing. She didn’t seem phased by the music, and barely even looked at the dancers. If anything she looked uncomfortable in such a loud event. Cordelia could understand.

She could see Sumia among the crowd, another glass of wine, perhaps the sixth or seventh, in her hand. She was stumbling more than usual, and seemed to trip over nothing. The wine spilled all over the floor, and Cordelia stood up, trading a look with Tharja.

    “I’ll be back.” She mouthed, before going to attend to Sumia, helping her up.

    “Are you alright?” She asked, and Sumia looked up at her. For a moment, Cordelia felt certain that she was going to cry, before she finally nodded.

    “Yeah…” Her words were slurred and quiet. “Tripped…”

   “You’re drunk.” Cordelia replied and glanced back at Tharja,

   “Dizzy…” Sumia said, almost as if it was some sort of confession.

   “How about I take you to the barracks, okay? You can lay down for a little while.”

    “M’kay…” Sumia murmured, and let Cordelia help her to her feet. She leaned on her for support and as Cordelia gave Tharja a brief wave to indicate she was taking Sumia aside. Tharja nodded in response, before refilling both of their wine glasses, in anticipation of Cordelia’s return.

            Sumia leaned on Cordelia as she took her away from the afterparty, and towards the barracks. It felt familiar being back there, and as she made her way towards her old room, it felt more like being at home than the farmhouse she now lived felt. The room was empty, save for the bed, where she brought Sumia and laid her down.

            The smaller woman flopped clumsily onto the mattress before rolling onto her back.

    “Do you need some water?” Cordelia asked.

    “No…M’fine…” Sumia replied, as Cordelia shifted her onto her side, just in case she vomited.

    “If you say so… I don’t think I’ve ever seen you drink so much before…” She paused, before asking, “Chrom?”

    “I’m surprised you’re still sober…” Sumia replied, and looked at her, “You wanted him too, didn’t you?”

    “I did…” Cordelia admitted, “But now? I don’t know. I guess it’s easier just to be happy for him, than to be jealous.”

            Sumia didn’t fully believe that. Cordelia could tell from the look on her face.    

    “Maybe I’m just ready to move on.” Cordelia added, “Maybe it’s time for that.”

    “Did you meet a man?” Sumia asked, and Cordelia could’ve sworn there was panic in her voice. She hesitated, before saying.  
    “That’s not it…”

            Sumia reached up, grabbing her arm.

    “What about…” She paused, before continuing, “What about what you said before… about maybe not being with a man… you said, maybe you could love a woman, didn’t you?”

            Cordelia nodded slowly.

    “Yeah, I did say that.”

    “Like me?”

            Those two words caught Cordelia by surprise. She wasn’t sure how to answer them, and the more Sumia stared into her eyes, the harder it became to answer.

            Sumia leaned up, moving closer to Cordelia, and pressed her lips against hers. The kiss was gentle, and almost welcomed. Though she tasted of wine, Sumia also tasted sweet, and Cordelia found her hand reaching up to rest on her shoulder, before the kiss broke.

    “I… I don’t know any other men I’d want to be with…” Sumia breathed, “Gaius, Stahl… they’re nice but… they’re not Chrom and… well, they’re not you.”

    “Me?” Cordelia asked.

    “You’re the only woman I want to love… you’re so perfect, all the time. Even when Chrom’s married, you still handle it perfectly! I-I want you, Cordelia. Just as much, maybe even more than I wanted him. It took me so long to realize it… but I know that’s what I want!”

    “S-Sumia! No!” Cordelia said, pulling away from her, “I’m sorry but, I can’t!”

    “Why not? Am I not good enough?” Sumia asked, her words still slurred, “I know I’m not perfect but… but I’ll do my best, for you! I swear I will! I’ll be the best bride I can be!”

   “It’s not that, Sumia!” Cordelia said, “It’s… there’s nothing wrong with you, it’s just…”

            The pieces clicked into place. Sumia’s eyes widened.

    “It’s Tharja, isn’t it?” She asked weakly. “You and her… t-that’s why you moved in together, isn’t it? That’s why you broke rank to save her…”

    “No! I mean… Tharja and I…” She took a breath, “We’re together but… well, it’s new… after what happened. I don’t mean… Sumia I’m sorry!”

            Cordelia felt almost ashamed for admitting it, and she could see the tears streaming down Sumia’s cheeks.

    “Gods… Gods I should’ve seen that… I should’ve seen it, it was right there in front of me… Gods…”

            She sat up, and tried to get off the bed, stumbling when she tried, and hastily righting herself.

    “Sumia…” Cordelia said, only to have the girl brush past her.

   “I’m sorry…” She said, “I’ve gone and made a fool of myself… I’m sorry…”

            Cordelia reached out to grab her, only for Sumia to pull away. She stumbled once more before finding her footing, and bolted out of the room, hurrying away from the barracks and away from Cordelia.

            Cordelia went after her, but she didn’t find her.


	9. Wedding Night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Really gonna try and get back into this. Need me some motivation to write 0_0.

When Cordelia returned to the party, Tharja was waiting. Nothing seemed to have changed in the few minutes where she’d been away. That should’ve been expected, but… no, it felt wrong. Seeing her, Tharja cracked a half smile, that faded quickly and patted the seat beside her. Cordelia quietly joined her, and accepted the wine she offered.  
    “Was she that drunk she couldn’t walk?” She asked, before adding, “You took a while.”  
    “No, just...” Cordelia almost told Tharja everything that had happened. How Sumia had kissed her, what she’d said to her… but she faltered.  
            How would Tharja take it? Would she understand? Would she be angry? Of course she would… She knew her new lover well enough to know that she wouldn’t accept anyone challenging her for Cordelia’s heart, even if she had no intention of being with anyone else. The last thing Cordelia wanted was a feud between her best friend and her lover! It was just a drunken kiss, from a confused friend anyways! Nothing to dwell on! She could just visit Sumia the next day and clear it up, no problem, right? Right? She wanted to believe that. She could even visualize it… but she also found herself thinking about the way Sumia had kissed her. The need she’d felt… it was different than the need she’d felt with Tharja. It was exciting! Arousing even! There was a small part of her that regretted not letting Sumia pull her onto the bed, and letting whatever could have happened, to happen… and a small part of her urged her to tell Tharja what had happened. What they had was still new. Tharja was more than willing and more than able to fulfill her needs… but this was something different than a need. She didn’t know what it was, other than adultery.  
    “Is something wrong?” Tharja asked, brow furrowing. Cordelia was jolted out of her thoughts.  
   “No. Sumia was just a little upset… she ran off, actually. I didn’t really see where to.”  
Tharja’s frown briefly deepened before fading.  
    “We could look for her if you’d like…”  
    “No. I think she just needs to be alone.” Cordelia said, taking Tharja’s hand, “I’ll check up on her tomorrow, alright?”

            She could see Tharja studying her, before deciding to accept what she was saying.  
    “Well, let me know if I can help.” Her tone implied a more magical solution to Sumia’s woes.

 

            The wedding party carried on into the early morning, although Cordelia found it hard to enjoy it. Sumia weighed heavily on her mind, but there were other things as well. According to tradition, every time someone clinked some cutlery on a glass, the bride and groom were supposed to kiss, and plenty of guests felt it necessary to invoke this tradition. Cordelia felt a stab of jealousy, then guilt whenever she saw Chrom and Robin lean in towards each other, and it didn’t surprise her when she saw the same expression on Tharja’s face too.  
            The hour was getting late. Some guests had left, but most were still there, and while Cordelia normally would have been just fine staying longer, this wasn’t a normal situation.

            After the umpteenth invocation of that age old tradition, and the third or fourth replay of the same tune by the musicians present, Cordelia reached for Tharja’s hand.  
   “I don’t suppose you’d want to hire a carriage home, would you?” She asked. Tharja glanced over at her. There was a slight flush to the woman’s cheeks, but she wasn’t drunk.   
    “We could stay in our old quarters.” She suggested, “It’d be closer…” That thought had occurred to Cordelia as well, but she’d dismissed it out of fear of running into Sumia, and she had no idea how that could play out…   
    “I guess we could.” She said, as Tharja reached for her hand, squeezing it gently, “You’re sure the noise wouldn’t bother you?”  
   “I know some spells that would keep the sound from getting in.” Tharja replied, “Or out.”

            The implication was inescapable… but Cordelia wasn’t against it. Tharja leaned in to kiss her on the cheek, and she pulled her closer.  
   “Well, let’s go then…” The Knight said softly, glancing once more at Chrom and Robin, who shared yet another kiss. This time, she pulled Tharja in to a kiss as well. She could hear Vaike whooping, not too far off, although she wasn’t sure if it was at them, or something else, and she didn’t really care. With Tharja’s hand in hers, she took off towards the barracks, and Tharja’s old quarters. That was a deliberate choice. They were in the opposite direction of Cordelia’s and Sumia’s… so maybe they could avoid the girl.  
            Sumia… Cordelia remembered the touch of her lips… that need she’d felt from the younger woman. As the door closed behind her and Tharja, she pushed her against it, and kissed her fiercely. There was a similar need in the way Tharja kissed her back, throwing her arms around her to hold her close. But it wasn’t exactly the same…   
            Tharja’s kiss was a demand. A statement of not just of want, but of ownership. She pulled Cordelia closer to her, and touched her with a measure of familiarity. She knew where Cordelia liked to be touched, and how she liked to be kissed, and she knew how she herself liked to kiss. _You are mine, and I am yours.  
            _ Sumia had been different. Something more timid and gentle. There was want, yes, but it wasn’t the same as Tharja’s. For all Cordelia knew, that may well have been her first kiss, and it made a different statement. _Can I belong to you?_

            For a moment, Cordelia wanted Tharja to ask her the same question, and took her by the wrists, pinning them against the door. She could almost feel the other woman’s heart racing, remembering the last time she’d been in this position, although it’d been in Cordelia’s room.  
            But this time, the knight took her time, nibbling at Tharja’s neck and pressing up against her. She listened to her let out an almost unexpected whimper as she left a little lovebite where all could see it. Not her first, and not the last… Tharja enjoyed being marked.   
    “Were you thinking of Robin?” She whispered in her ear.  
    “No…” Tharja lied,   
    “You were looking at her...”   
    “You were looking at Chrom.”   
Cordelia smiled.   
    “Yes… Heh… I guess we don’t really forget, do we? Well… I guess there’s only one thing to do about that, isn’t there?”  
            She took one hand off Tharja’s wrist, and cupped her chin, lifting her head to look into her eyes, before kissing her. She did it just as Chrom had done it to Robin, and it was satisfying! She wasn’t thinking about him… she wasn’t thinking about Sumia, or trying not to, anyways.   
            Tharja melted into her touch, and Cordelia released her wrists entirely, letting the woman hold onto her, as she scooped her up off the ground, bridal style, carrying her to the bed and setting her down on it. Tharja nearly pulled her on top of her, but didn’t… not quite…   
            She leaned over the mage, thinking about how she’d been in a similar position with Sumia not even an hour before. Tharja kissed her again, urging her down. This wasn’t the same… had she wanted it to be the same? Had she brought Tharja here like this in some… effort, to rectify what she hadn’t done with Sumia? Or were they here to work out their frustration of being denied the people they’d really wanted, on each other? Enact their fantasies for a pair of wedding nights that would never happen, on each other… she wanted to believe that was it.   
            This time, Cordelia crawled onto the bed with Tharja, straddling her as their lips met, and eager hands tugged at pretty dresses. They didn’t undress… putting it all back on would take too much time. Tharja’s hands found their way up Cordelia’s hips, and rubbed her through her smallclothes, before pushing them aside, and slipping into her, as her thumb rubbed her through the fabric. Being touched helped a lot, and she ground down eagerly on Tharja’s fingers, panting as she held onto the girl. Their lips met again and again, and Cordelia could smell their perfume, and sweat and sex filling the air. She rode Tharja’s fingers, and as the mage rolled her onto her back to take control, she let her. The mage’s fingers moved faster, and with more urgency. Cordelia laid her head back on the pillow. It was clean and scentless. Nobody had slept here since Tharja had left. She could feel the pleasure building, and wrapped an arm around Tharja’s neck, her breath coming in louder, eager pants, that slowly became moans as she felt herself building up to something.

            She could feel Tharja grinding against her leg as she finally came into the woman’s hand, gasping her name as she did. She gripped Tharja’s wrist, still eagerly grinding against her, and meeting her eyes. That smile Tharja wore was cruelly mischievous, and took pleasure from watching Cordelia squirm beneath her, and from the satisfaction of having made her cum. It was a look that Cordelia wanted to take from her…

            She pushed up against Tharja, forcing her off of her, and onto her back. The woman was still grinning, and Cordelia buried her face in her neck, kissing the sensitive skin near where she’d marked her. Now it was her turn to explore. Her hands moved along Tharjas body, along her curves, and her breasts, before finally tugging at that Plegian dress. For a few lovely moments, she was grateful that her lover had shied away from Ylissan garb for the evening. It was much easier to remove. The dress was tugged up, exposing her lower body and smallclothes, which Cordelia all but ripped off of her. She could see that Tharja’s smile was gone now, replaced with a look that wasn’t put off by what Cordelia was doing. On the contrary, but she was clearly surprised. Cordelia had never gone after her like this before. Not with this kind of need. She forced a kiss on her, as she tried to move her own gown out of the way, before stripping off her own undergarments. The fabric hung off Cordelia’s leg, bunched up and almost forgotten.

Tharja found herself staring up at Cordelia, feeling her heart race in anticipation to come before she ground against her sex, forcing a gasp of familiar pleasure from her. This was so much like that first night they’d shared in this room, and like many other since then, although Cordelia hadn’t even bothered fully undressing either of them. She’d just gotten whatever was between them out of the way, and gone after her with a lust that she’d never displayed before. Tharja bucked her hips up to meet Cordelia, but couldn’t match her passion. This was something she’d never seen from the woman before… and soon she gave up entirely.  
    “C-Cordelia…” She gasped, almost unheard over Cordelia’s own breathy pants.   
She looked up at the red haired beauty on top of her, feeling the pleasure as Cordelia took her, far rougher than she ever had before. As Cordelia fucked her. That was really the only appropriate term. This wasn’t sex like either of them were used to. She was fucking her, plain and simple. It was primal and lustful, and it felt… amazing…  
            Tharja let herself surrender entirely, holding onto Cordelia tightly as the woman ground against her, letting herself moan and gasp and cry out, sinking her fingers into Cordelia’s hair. Their lips met over and over again, and when Tharja finally came, it almost hurt! But it was magnificent… and Cordelia didn’t stop. Hands explored her body, tugging at the straps of her light dress and forcing it down, exposing the mages breasts. Cordelia’s lips moved from her neck, and down lower until she was sucking one of Tharja’s nipples, earning another moan from the woman. She arced her back, offering her chest, her body itself to Cordelia, letting her kiss and devour her as she used her for her own pleasure. She could feel the woman on top of her speeding up, getting closer to her own climax, and listened as Cordelia cried out when she finally came.

Tharja opened her eyes, and saw Cordelia meeting hers. Their lips met again as Cordelia briefly slowed, catching her breath, before picking up her pace again… and again… and again…

  


In the early hours of the morning, Cordelia lay awake next to Tharja. She’d slept, but only a little. At some point, she and the mage had decided to shed their garments outright. They wouldn’t be returning to the party. Tharja’s dress was in a crumpled pile on the ground, and Cordelia’s gown wasn’t much better off, draped over a chair. She noticed the slightest of smiles on Tharja’s lips as she spooned her, and idly played with her thick black locks. Cordelia leaned down and pressed a kiss to Tharja’s pale shoulder, before resting her head on the pillow beside hers.

She thought of Chrom and Robin, no doubt a few rooms away, in a similar position, and hugged Tharja closer. She didn’t feel jealous. Not like she had when she’d watched them kiss. She’d vented that frustration by now. She was ‘fine.’ No… Sumia was what was weighing on her mind. She was afraid that she’d hurt the girl by rejecting her, or worse yet… ruined years of friendship. But, Sumia was moderately tough, wasn’t she? Delicate as she was, she was hardened enough to fight, to kill, she was a soldier! She could handle this little thing! Right…?

Sunlight streamed in through the window, and Cordelia found herself trying to ignore it. She focused on Tharja’s light breathing and the warmth of her body. This was who she had. Someone who belonged to her. Why think of anyone else? She should’ve been happy like this! She WAS happy like this!

Wasn’t she?

 

            Chrom had been kind enough to order a breakfast prepared for the guests who’d stayed in the castle overnight. Many had not wished to make the return home. Despite the Shepherds having made Ylisse far safer than it’d ever been, there was still some fear of being robbed on the roads at night, and some just preferred not to travel by dark. Riding home in the darkness, and while drunk, even on safe roads was a recipe for trouble, especially when there were all manner of foul beasts about, and the Risen… though they were scarce.   
            The Shepherds broke fast in the old mess hall. Most of them were present, and the chatter was upbeat. Cordelia caught Tharja and Miriel speaking in hushed tones beside her, although she didn’t eavesdrop. Instead, she found herself looking for Sumia. But Sumia wasn’t there.

 

 Neither Cordelia nor Tharja stayed past the breakfast. Sumia’s parents had opted to remain at an inn in town, and after giving their regards to the happy couple, Cordelia and Tharja had paid a carriage to bring them home. The day after the wedding was uneventful to say the least. Tharja spent most of the ride home asleep, leaving Cordelia to watch the scenery pass by and think about the night before. 


	10. The Mountain Spring

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Still dwelling on what happened between her and Sumia, Cordelia goes to check on her, and revisits an place from her childhood, where her conviction fails her.

It was the day after, when Cordelia decided to look for Sumia. Tharja had left in the morning to attend to her stand, and to the best of Cordelia’s knowledge, Sumia’s family was still in Ylissitol, no doubt taking the opportunity to purchase some rare supplies they wouldn’t find in town.   
            Cordelia dressed for fieldwork, before making her way over to Sumia’s family’s home. There would have been little work to be done on the farm that day, but Cordelia wasn’t interested in the work, she was worried about Sumia. Given that the girl hadn’t been with the other Shepherds, she had a feeling that she’d gone home.   
            The farmhouse was quiet, but the sight of a lantern lit from the night before told her that it wasn’t uninhabited. She spotted a couple of Pegasi grazing out on the fields, and among them, Sumia.   
   “Sumi!” She called, and could see the girl visibly tense up. Sumia watched her as she hopped the fence and approached her.  
    “Good morning…” Sumia’s voice was a little smaller than usual, and Cordelia stopped a few feet away from her. The younger knight had been leading a Pegasus, the one Cordelia had taken to, towards the barn.  
    “I wanted to see you’d made it home safe.” Cordelia said, “You took off after the wedding, and I didn’t see you the next morning… I was worried.”   
    “I took my family’s carriage.” Sumia said, “They told me they were staying in town. The roads were safe. You and I helped guarantee that.”  
    “There’s more to worry about than brigands.” Cordelia said, following Sumia towards the barn. For a moment, neither woman spoke. Just outside the threshold, Sumia finally found some words.  
    “I’m sorry… about the other night. I shouldn’t have…”  
    “It’s alright.” Cordelia assured her, “You’d had a lot to drink.” Sumia just nodded in response.   
    “Yeah… I did…” She disappeared into the barn, where she’d prepared some warm water to bathe the Pegasus with. Cordelia moved to help her. The silence between them was unbearable. Cordelia hated it. She looked at Sumia in the low light of the barn, and saw just how ashamed she was. She’d made a fool out of herself, worse than that, she’d bared everything to Cordelia only to find out that she was too late. There was someone else. She couldn’t even look her in the eye now. She just remained focused on washing the soft fur of the Pegasus.   
            There was a part of Cordelia that wanted to hug her. To comfort her, but she didn’t know what would come of that. Maybe it would help, or maybe it would just make things worse. Maybe it might make things a lot worse…  
    “I was thinking, I’ve got some money put aside.” Cordelia said, after a while of working together quietly. “It might finally be time to buy this one off you.” She spoke, only to eliminate the silence between them. She reached out to caress the Pegasus’ snout.  
    “You wouldn’t need to.” Sumia replied, “You’ve done a lot for us. I’m sure my parents would be happy to just give you a Pegasus to train.”  
    “They could use the money, though.” Cordelia added, “Right?”  
    “Maybe. You haven’t even flown on him yet anyways.”   
Cordelia paused, running her fingers through the stallions mane.  
    “You think he’d let me?” She asked, and Sumia looked up at her.  
    “Yes.” She replied, “He trusts you. I can tell.”  
    “Then why don’t we saddle him after he’s dry?” Cordelia said, “We could fly him together.”

            Sumia paused, and stared intently at Cordelia, trying to figure out what she was thinking.  
    “I don’t know if we should… He’s never flown with one person and two…”  
    “We could try.” Cordelia said, going for a towel to dry the Pegasus off, “Come on, I’ll lead him outside. He’s about as clean as he’ll get. You get the saddle.”  
Sumia nodded quietly, and watched as Cordelia led the Pegasus outside.

            She had questions. Why was Cordelia here? Why was she suggesting this? She was acting like nothing was wrong! Like Sumia hadn’t crossed a line! Like… like they could still just be friends. Could they still just be friends? Sumia didn’t know… it was hard to stop thinking about Cordelia the way she was now. It was like a switch had been flipped, and she couldn’t turn it off. The way Cordelia turned to look at her, smiling at her, made her knees weak. She watched for a moment as Cordelia cared for the Pegasus, before finding a saddle for two.   
            The animal was dry and comfortable by the time she left the barn. It shook itself, and spread its majestic wings, letting the sun dry them out, before laying down to bask in its rays. Cordelia had gone into the house, to grab them both a pitcher of water and make a few modest sandwiches as a lunch, allowing that Pegasus some time to dry off and relax.   
            The Pegasus regarded Sumia with mild interest when it saw the saddle. It seemed to know what the intention was, but didn’t seem bothered by it. It even pressed its snout into her hand in want of affection, which Sumia happily provided.  
            She looked up towards the skyline, and up to the mountains in the distance. They were tedious to reach on foot, although on the back of a Pegasus, a child could reach them. Children had reached them, once…   
    “Hey, Sumia!” Cordelia’s voice stole her attention. The red haired knight stood in the doorway of the farmhouse.  
    “Come on. Best to eat before you head out.”  
            Sumia hesitated, staring at Cordelia in the doorway, admiring the way she smiled. Why was she acting like everything was fine? Like it was normal? It WASN’T fine! It WASN’T normal!   
    “Sumia?”   
            She felt her feet moving, taking her into the house, and to the table. She barely tasted the food, and didn’t look Cordelia in the eye.  
    “It’s been a while since I’ve flown.” Cordelia said, “Ever since… well…”  
    “Tharja.” Sumia finished, “Ever since you rescued Tharja.”  
    “Yeah…” Cordelia paused, studying the other woman carefully.

            She could see how much what had happened the other night weighed on Sumia. She could see how ashamed she was.  
    “I would’ve said yes…” She said, and Sumia finally looked at her.   
    “If Tharja hadn’t come along. I would’ve said yes.” She reached out, taking Sumia’s hand, “I meant it when I said you’re a sweet, goodhearted girl. There’s someone out there for you.”

            Sumia’s fingers slowly curled around Cordelia’s.  
    “Maybe…” She said softly, and paused, before adding, “But it seems that the people I fall in love with always meet someone else first.”   
    “I’m sorry.” Cordelia said, “But it won’t always be like that, I promise.”  
    “Mm…” Sumia stared at their fingers, so close together, and squeezed her hand. Cordelia squeezed back, before pulling away.   
    “Eat up.” She said, “I was thinking that maybe we could fly him out to the mountains. See if that spring is still there.”

            Sumia remembered the spring. It was high in the mountains, nearly inaccessible and hard to find, but years ago, when they’d still been children, before the war, Cordelia had found it. There was just enough space for a Pegasus to land, and the water was crystal clear. There was a lovely clearing around the area. The two young girls had visited it often in the summer. It was a perfect place to play, with fresh water to drink and swim in, and a truly beautiful view. Remembering it put a smile on her face. She’d been back there alone, plenty of times since Cordelia had chosen to join the military… but it wasn’t the same. Just the idea of going back with her, recapturing in some small way all the years they’d lost… that was something special.

            She finished her lunch quickly, and with that done, she and Cordelia set about to saddling up the Pegasus. The tension between them seemed just a little lighter, and the Pegasus was well behaved as they secured the saddle. Cordelia took the first seat, while Sumia doubled up behind her. The Pegasus seemed to support their combined weight with ease, and allowed Cordelia to trot him around, to let him get used to them. It wasn’t long before she tried to coax him to take off. The first attempt, he failed. That was to be expected. He wasn’t completely used to the extra weight. The second attempt, went much better. They found a makeshift runway, and let the Pegasus break into a gallop, building up momentum before spreading its wings.

 

            The sensation of flight brought a smile to Cordelia’s face. It’d been too long, and she hadn’t realized just how much she’d missed this until now! The Pegasus circled above the farm, before letting Cordelia steer him. He soared above the small town nearby, and Cordelia swore she could see Tharja’s stand far below. She wondered if she was looking up at her, and if she knew…   
            The wind brought them towards the mountains. Cordelia surprisingly enough remembered the way, and she brought the Pegasus towards that familiar clearing in the forest on the steep mountainside, where that small plateau waited. It looked just how she remembered it. Time hadn’t changed the area much. She let the Pegasus circle around as she guided him in for a landing. He executed it well. Perfectly, some might say… and Cordelia would chide them for it. This wasn’t perfection. It was a mixture of skill, a good mount, and good fortune.   
            The landing was rougher than she was used to. The Pegasus wasn’t used to landing with that much extra weight, and the Pegasus huffed when its hooves touched the grass. Its wings folded, and Sumia dismounted, rushing up towards its head to comfort it. There was no harm done, but the beast was exhausted, even from such a short flight. There was still much training to be done before he’d be ready to serve a Pegasus Knight.  
            Cordelia joined Sumia on the ground, and caressed the Pegasus’ mane.  
   “You did wonderfully.” She said to it, before looking around the clearing. Nothing had changed. The area was beautiful and serene. The spring bubbled nearby, and Cordelia drew near to it, looking into the crystal clear waters, where she and Sumia had swam as children.  
    “Did you ever come back?” She asked, looking back at Sumia.  
    “A few times.” The woman said, letting the Pegasus go. He trotted off to graze, and replenish his energy. She trusted him not to fly off. She’d always seemed to know which animals to trust.  
    “It wasn’t the same without you.” Sumia said, stopping beside Cordelia, “But I haven’t been since I left home to join the Shepard’s…”   
            Cordelia nodded, before taking a step back and slipping out of her boots, so she could wade barefoot into the spring. A waterfall on the far side of it cascaded down, filling the clearing with its soothing sound. Closing her eyes brought her back to a much better time. She breathed in the crisp mountain air. Something about it made it taste better.   
    “I’m going for a swim.” She said, undoing her work clothes. She’d leave them up on the banks.   
    “N-now?” Sumia asked, her voice coming out in almost a squeak,   
    “We always swam when we came up here.” Cordelia said, and grinned at Sumia, “Come on, or I’ll toss you in.”   
            Well presented with that ultimatum, Sumia wasn’t left with much choice but to undress to her smallclothes. But it was hard not to watch Cordelia as she undressed. Sumia had always thought she was pretty. Cordelia wouldn’t have been perfect if she wasn’t pretty… but watching her now was something else. Seeing her in this new light made her want her. Did Cordelia know that? Was she mocking her for it? When the woman dove into the water, and resurfaced a short distance away, calling for Sumia to join her, it didn’t seem mocking. No… she knew exactly what this was… Cordelia wanted to put it behind them. Focus on what she had and just be happy with that… and she wanted to keep her best friend in the process. That was reasonable, wasn’t it? Wasn’t it?   
            Sumia dove into the water with her, swimming to catch up. She watched as Cordelia swam beneath the waterfall, and heard her call out.  
    “You remember how we used to race, right? Waterfall to the shore!”  
    “I remember you used to beat me.” Sumia replied.  
    “Not all the time!”  
            As Sumia passed under the waterfall, she felt Cordelia dart past her under the water, giving herself an unfair head start in their little race. Sumia tried to catch up, but was nowhere near fast enough. She splashed Cordelia in retribution, which led to being splashed in turn. For a while, they swam like that. It was almost like when they were kids… almost like reliving those wonderful memories, back when Cordelia could just run across the field to her parents after the day was done. Those days were long gone…   
  
    “What’s wrong?” Cordelia had stopped, and treaded water in the spring, watching Sumia with evident concern.  
    “Nothing!” Sumia lied, “It’s just… We’re a little old for this, aren’t we?” She frowned and swam to the bank, sitting down on the grass, beside her clothes.   
    “Too old to swim?” Cordelia asked, going over to join her, although Sumia didn’t reply, staring at the water as Cordelia got out to sit beside her. It didn’t take the red haired knight long to figure out what was weighing on her, and what this might have meant to Sumia.  
    “I wasn’t trying to—”  
   “I know!” Sumia said, “Why are you acting like everything’s okay? Like we can talk about it for a few minutes and after that, I can just… forget, so everything goes back to normal!”  
   “I don’t expect you to just forget!” Cordelia argued, “I just… I was hoping you’d understand!”  
    “I do… But that doesn’t change anything. It doesn’t make it better!”

            She felt Cordelia’s hand over her own, and pulled it away.  
    “It’s not exactly easy for me either!” Cordelia said, “How was I supposed to react to that, given my position! If you had someone, if you had something good, would you give it up? Would you be with someone else?”

            Sumia paused, opening her mouth to retort, but finding nothing.  
   “I care about you. I really do.” Cordelia said, “But I care about Tharja too.”  
   “Do you love her?” Sumia asked, and Cordelia paused.   
   “I do…” The way she said it. She didn’t hesitate long but there was that pause, “Enough to stay loyal to her… but I told you I would’ve said yes to you, if things were different. I meant that.” Her hand crept back over Sumia’s. “I could’ve loved you too… and when you kissed me, I wanted to.”  
   “Did you?” Sumia looked into her eyes. Cordelia seemed a little closer.   
    “I did…” The other woman said, “I wanted to love you… I wanted you…”   
   “Then I am good enough for you.” Sumia said.  
   “You’re good enough for whoever you’d want.”  
   “I want you.”

            When their lips met again, Cordelia didn’t fight it. That need she’d felt before with Sumia. That question, ‘ _Can I be yours?’_ was there.

 _Stop._ She told herself. _You have Tharja! If she finds out…_

 _How would she find out?_ Another voice asked, _Hexing you? She wouldn’t. Not to you. She’ll only ever find out if you tell her._

_It’s still wrong!_

_Do you care?_  
Their lips parted. She could feel Sumia’s eyes on her. She wanted to taste her lips again. She wanted to feel her skin pressed against her own.   
    “I’m sorry…” Cordelia said quietly, but didn’t move away. Their lips were still so close… She ordered herself to pull back. To end this now. She had everything she wanted and needed! She’d already done everything she could to try and prevent Tharja from being jealous of her best friend, to assure the woman of her loyalty! She’d already gone too far with just this kiss!  
            She crossed that line again. She pressed her lips against Sumia’s, and laid the girl down on the grass. Sumia’s cheeks had gone red as she looked up at Cordelia. She knew what was happening, and she wanted it.

            For another moment Cordelia tried to hesitate, but she could feel Sumia’s shy fingers on her skin. Undoing her brassiere, and tossing the fabric aside. Cordelia gasped as she felt Sumia’s hands on her breasts. Her touch was inexperienced. Done only for its own sake. She simply knew that this kind of touch was sexual, but wasn’t doing more beyond awkward fondling.  
            Her cluelessness was almost cute, in its own way. Cordelia lifted Sumia’s hands away from her, and pressed them into the grass over her head. She didn’t hold them there  
    “Let me show you…” She whispered to her, slipping off Sumias own brassiere. The other girl was a little more endowed than she was, but not like Tharja was. That was fine. Cordelia knew what to do all the same.  
            Her lips found one of Sumias nipples, suckling it gently. She heard the other girl gasp weakly, and watched as her hand reached down between her legs, under her smallclothes to rub herself. Cordelia took her by the wrist, to stop her.  
   “No… Keep your hands up. I’ll do it…”  
            She could see Sumias eyes widening, and watched them grow as she reached down the waistline of Sumias smallclothes, feeling her wet folds underneath, and finding her tiny clit. Slowly, she started to massage it, teasing her as she suckled on one of Sumias nipples.  
            The girl gasped and panted beneath her. Then finally, she heard her first moan.   
    “C-Cordelia…”   
She smiled at the sound of her own name, and drew back a little, taking her fingers away from Sumias loins, to caress the woman’s body. Her lips pressed down between Sumias breasts, and then moved slowly lower, and lower, and lower. She could hear Sumias shaky breathing, and met the girls eyes as she stopped just above the waistline of her smallclothes.

            Her fingers slid under the garment, prying it off of her wet body and dropping it aside. Without any clothes, Sumia was a vision. Modest breasts, unmarred skin, and a small bush just above her labia. Cordelia kissed just above that little bush, before moving lower once more until she was able to taste the other woman.

            One leg draped over her shoulder as Cordelia’s tongue explored her clit. Sumia gasped, and her hands rested on Cordelia’s head as the woman ate her out. Cordelia took this slow, drawing out every movement of her tongue. Two fingers slid into Sumia’s body, exploring her and searching for that one sweet spot.   
   “Cordelia please… Yes…” Sumias voice was breathless and needy. Begging her for more.  
   “Please… please…”   
Her hips weakly bucked up as Cordelia’s fingers found a sweet spot, and her fingers sank into her crimson hair. Cordelia nuzzled into her touch, pausing only briefly to look up at her. Sumia stared up at the sky, breathing heavier now, and didn’t seem to fight it at all as Sumia stared up at the clear blue sky. She gasped and moaned as Cordelia ate her out. One of Cordelia’s hands reached up to rest over Sumia’s, and rested over it. Their eyes met, briefly.

   “I love you…” Sumia said, her soft voice trembling, and Cordelia looked up at her, smiling briefly, almost sadly, before returning to her machinations. Sumia watched her, then closed her eyes and rested her head back. The reminder that Cordelia’s heart belonged to another was a cruel one. But it was a truth she knew she’d need to accept. For now, they were together. They had this.

            The pleasure from Cordelia’s lips on her womanhood was almost too much to handle and swallowed all other thoughts. Her grip on her lovers hand tightened as she let out another gasp.

   “C-Cordelia… I… I’m going to…”

It happened before she could finish that sentence. The climax hit her so hard and almost overwhelmed her. She moaned, bucking her hips up a little harder. Cordelia paused, just for a moment, kissing her in that most precious spot between her legs.

            For a few moments, the two women lay there, Cordelia resting her head on Sumia’s stomach, their fingers lovingly intertwined.

            Cordelia stared off into nothingness, the sweet taste of Sumia still on her lips. She thought about Tharja, thought about what she’d say if she knew, how this might hurt her.

   “Are you sorry…?” Sumia asked after a while. Cordelia looked up at her, putting on a smile.

   “No.” She said, and moved up a little bit, laying beside her. One arm draped around Sumia’s torso. “I don’t regret any of it, or what’s about to happen.” She added, pulling Sumia just a bit closer. The younger woman’s breath hitched.

   “A-about to happen?” She asked, and watched as Cordelia grinned, then slid down her own smallclothes, exposing herself completely to her.

   “About to happen.” She said, as she pressed one of her legs between Sumias. “I’ll be your first, won’t I?” She asked, and Sumia slowly nodded.  
   “Y-yes… you will… but that’s good, r-right? I want you to!”

   “You want me to?” Cordelia asked, grinding against her, “You want me to do this?” Sumia gasped in response, nodding slowly.

    “Y-yes… yes please…”

    “You like it when I touch you like this?”

    “Yes~”  
    “Sumia…”

            Their lips met as Cordelia slowly gained momentum, grinding against Sumia, clinging to her petite, naked body. Their eyes met, as Cordelia took her. Slowly, lovingly.

   “I love you.” Sumia said it again in the throes of their passion, and their lips desperately met in response. Sumia’s legs wrapped around Cordelia, giving herself to her completely.

            She felt herself coming to another climax, her sensitive body almost overloaded with pleasure. Her words soon became little more than desperate gasps of pleasure, reaching their crescendo as her second orgasm washed over her. She could feel Cordelia desperately speeding up, pursuing her own release. She looked up at her, seeing the beads of sweat on her forehead.  
   “Cum for me…” She whispered, “Cum for me… please...”

            She wanted to give Cordelia the same sensations she was feeling. She wanted to be the cause of it. She NEEDED to be the cause, and she needed to be better than Tharja.

            She felt the woman hug her close and tremble from her orgasm. Cordelia let out a weak breath, burying her face in Sumia’s neck. In the afterglow, the two lay there, cuddled up close and panting. Sumia felt Cordelia’s fingers in her hair, caressing her lovingly, and pressed up against her.

            It felt almost perfect. After so many years away from this place, something so wonderful could happen between them upon their return. Sumia wasn’t sure how long they’d stayed together like that. But however long it was, it wasn’t long enough.

            Eventually, the day had to end.

 

            Cordelia lay in her bed, alone and quiet. She and Sumia had spent some more time at the spring. They’d swam together, like they had when they were children, and they’d made love once again beneath the waterfall. It had been a little more relaxed than before. Giggly moans, as Cordelia had pressed the other girl into the rock, her fingers exploring her sex, bringing her to a third and fourth orgasm.

            They’d dried in the sun, dressed and flown back to the farm. Neither of them said a word about what had happened. They parted ways like everything was fine, and when she’d gotten home, Cordelia had drawn a bath to soak in the warm water. Afterwards, she’d gotten up, still nude and lain in bed, staring thoughtfully up at the ceiling, until she heard Tharja return home. She hadn’t moved, waiting for her lover to come and discover her that way. She needed Tharja now, almost as like she was a reminder of what she really had, and to affirm what she felt for her. Like she was trying to chase the memory of Sumia’s soft skin, and her weak moans away.  

            Tharja appeared in the door, and looked at her, knowingly, she closed the bedroom door, and began to undress. The lovemaking was slow and tender, but nothing new. Nothing that hadn’t happened before.

            As they lay together afterwards, Cordelia cupped Tharja’s chin and lifted her head, to look into her dark eyes. She studied the woman who held her so close, different than the way Sumia did, a looser, more comfortable hold. She thought on it for a moment, then kissed her.

   “I love you, Tharja.” She whispered. It felt like a lie, but the way Tharja smiled was worth it.

   “I love you too, dear.” Tharja whispered.  



	11. A Letter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dealing with the guilt over the events at the spring with Sumia, a restless Cordelia intercepts a letter for Tharja

Tharja was already gone when she’d awoken the next morning. She’d let herself sleep in for a while. She imagined a weight on the bed beside her. Sometimes she pretended it was Tharja, sometimes she pretended it was Sumia.

            Part of her burned to get up and go and find her fellow knight. She envisioned walking into her home, and taking her just like she had yesterday. Then came the guilt. That agonizing sinking sensation in her chest. She’d betrayed Tharja, in what she’d done. Betrayed her, then had the nerve to tell her she loved her. Had she even meant it? Had she just said it out of guilt? She didn’t have that answer.

            After a while, lying in bed with her own thoughts and guilt became excruciating. She got up, sighing and making her way downstairs to the kitchen. Breakfast was light, and then she set to trying to find some chores to occupy her time in the house. There weren’t many, but she made them last. The alternative was to sit around the house, something she couldn’t bring herself to do, or visit Sumia and offer to help her with the Pegasi, and she wasn’t sure what would happen if she did that. Maybe Sumia would feel just as guilty over what they’d done as she did, or maybe she’d want to do it again…

            The knock at the door around midday pulled her from her thoughts, almost mercifully. Cordelia had been busy sweeping out the kitchen, when she heard it, and glanced out the window, catching sight of a man on the doorstep. He looked like a courier. Frowning, she set the broom aside and opened the door.

   “Hello?”

   “I’ve a letter for a woman by the name of Tharja.” The courier said, their voice weary,

   “Tharja lives here.” Cordelia said, “She’s in town right now.”

   “That so?” The Courier asked, glancing back the way they came, “But you’d give it to her, wouldn’t you?”

   “Of course.” Cordelia assured him, and no sooner had she said the word, than the courier had taken one sealed envelope, and set it into Cordelia’s hands.  
   “Then my job is done.” They said, before turning to leave. They didn’t look back.

            Cordelia closed the door, and studied the envelope in her hands. Tharja’s name was written on it in a thin script, although the envelope was sealed with wax and a seal. It looked so official. She took it to the kitchen table and sat down, staring at it for a moment curiously. It was meant for Tharja, wasn’t it? Would it be wrong to open it? The envelope looked weathered as though it had traveled far. The paper was sun bleached, and the seal was not from the royal family of Ylisse… in fact… it looked rather like a Plegian seal.

            Curiosity got the better of her. She pried the envelope open, and removed the letter inside. It was written in a neat, sloping and elegant text.

 

            My Dearest Daughter

            I hope this letter finds you well.  I hope this letter finds you at all. We have hoped for the best, yet feared the worst. There was no news of you after the battle at the castle. They say you were not among the dead, yet you did not return home. Your Brother believes you deserted, but I know better. I sense you are out there. When you open this letter, I will know for sure.

I hope to see you again soon.

Your Mother

Aadhaya

 

          Cordelia read the letter over twice.   
Mother… Tharja had rarely spoken about her family. Only that she had some back in Plegia. It dawned on her that it hadn’t even crossed her mind to ask about them. Tharja knew about her family, of course. Both the one she’d lost in this very building, and the one she’d lost in the skies above Ylissitol. Tharja knew everything about her, more or less, and she knew so little about who she’d been before they’d first met at the gates of Gangrels castle.   
            She set the letter on the kitchen table, and after a moments thought, folded it back into its envelope.   
            _Now you’ve cheated on her and gone through her mail…  
_             The thought made Cordelia pause for a moment. She knew that over the latter, Tharja would be furious… and Cordelia intended for her to never learn about the former. It had been a mistake, one that she told herself she’d never repeat, and one that more than a small part of her desperately wanted to.

            Forcing her mind away from Sumia, she focused on household chores, and what to say to Tharja about that letter. She’d broken the seal of the letter. There’d be no hiding that, and so considering how would only prove a waste of time. Might as well just go for the heart of the issue.

 

            Dinner was already prepared when Tharja arrived back home. She seemed in good enough spirits when she came through the door, no doubt helped by the smell of succulent roast pork that filled the house.  
   “You’ve been busy today…” She noted, studying the cleaner state of the house, “No stable work?”  
   “Sumia didn’t need me.” Cordelia replied, “And I couldn’t just do nothing all day.”  
   “Well, if you’re bored, I’m sure there’s something in town.” Tharja said, joining her in the kitchen. Cordelia was occupied with frying mushrooms in a skillet, and made a point not to look up at Tharja. She greeted Cordelia with a soft, but lingering kiss on the cheek. She smiled at her, although it faded quickly.  
   “You’d be terrible at cards…” She said softly.  
   “Hmm?” Cordelia looked over at her, her heart skipping a beat.  
   “You look troubled.” Tharja said, “You look like you’re hiding it.” There was an obvious note of suspicion in her voice.  
   “A courier came today.” Cordelia said, “He brought a sealed letter… I’m sorry, I didn’t look at the seal, and he didn’t say who it was for.” She lied, “I thought it was from the Halidom.”  
            Tharja stared intently at her.  
   “Where is it?” Her voice was low and demanding, but not angry.   
   “On the table… I’m sorry, dear. I didn’t intend to…”  
   “It’s fine…” Tharja said, dismissively and fetched the letter. She opened it and read through it quickly. Her look soured a little. Then, without so much as a word, she cast it into the fire.  
            For a moment, there was a silence between them. Cordelia wasn’t sure just what to make of it. Tharja didn’t look at her. She just stared into the flames.   
   “It’s a pity you opened it.” Tharja said, looking back at Cordelia. She looked frustrated. Not angry, but frustrated.  
   “My Mother put a hex on that envelope… She’ll know it’s been opened.” She said, “I suppose it’s possible she’ll know it wasn’t me who opened it, but that might be too much to hope for…”  
   “You’re not going to respond to her?” Cordelia asked.  
   “No.” Tharja replied bluntly, “I have nothing to say to that woman. She’s been a burden on me my entire life. Now I’m rid of her, and I don’t intend to permit her, or anyone else from my family back into my world.”  
   “Is that why you stayed?” Cordelia asked, “After the war, I mean.”

            Tharja was quiet for a moment, before nodding.   
   “I thought I could make a better life for myself here. Plegia’s no doubt in turmoil. The King is dead, and who knows who’s assumed command now. Even if my family was worth seeing, I wouldn’t have returned for those reasons alone.”  
   “What if they think you’re dead?” She asked, and Tharja paused once more.  
   “Good.” She said, “Then they wouldn’t look for me.”  
   “And they’d grieve instead.” Cordelia said, “You’d let your family mourn for you?”  
   “Trust me, they wouldn’t mourn.” Tharja said, “My Mother wouldn’t mourn, at least…”  
   “And what about your Father?”  
            Tharja paused at that, and sighed.  
   “He’d get over it.” She finally said, “He’s strong.”  
   “I don’t think it’s right.” Cordelia said, her voice a little stern, “I think you’re wrong about your Mother. She wrote a letter, and went through the trouble to send it to you. Did you see how worn it was? That letter has traveled far, Tharja. If she wasn’t concerned, she wouldn’t have sent it!”  
            Tharja had no response for that, and so Cordelia pressed on.  
   “At least tell them you’re alive! They deserve that much, don’t they? Do you know what it’s like to lose someone? To have a member of your family die?”

            Still no response from Tharja.  
   “It hurts. It hurts more than anything. I’ve seen it so many times… Here, Ylissitol… I wouldn’t wish that pain on anyone.”  
   “Then you’re a kinder soul than them.” Tharja said softly, and Cordelia reached for her hands, clasping them firmly in her own.  
   “I don’t believe I’m any kinder, or any better than anyone else, dearest.” She said, “At least give them the assurance that you’re still alive. You don’t have to see or talk to them ever again if you don’t want to. But at least tell them you survived.”  
   “And what else?” Tharja asked, tone darkening. She pulled her hands away, “Tell them I betrayed Gangrel? I left my own King, and joined the other army for my own survival.”  
   “You’re not the only one.” Cordelia said, “You saw the state of the army after that day… After Emmeryn… It collapsed.”  
   “So it did… Mother would call it a display of weakness… Although, she never was his staunchest supporter…” She paused for thought. “I… I don’t know what she’d say…” There was doubt in her voice. Uncertainty that Cordelia sought to exploit.   
   “And you’ll never know unless you talk to them. We could write a letter! Or…”  
Tharja looked at her again.   
   “No…” She said softly. “I couldn’t go back…”  
   “I’d be with you!” Cordelia assured her, “Only for a visit!”  
   “That’s a terrible idea.” Tharja said, “If Mother saw you…”  
Cordelia frowned.  
   “She wouldn’t approve?”  
   “Never… It’s not that you’re a woman! I don’t think Mother would have any issue with that. But you’re not Plegian. She’d take issue with that.”  
   “I wouldn’t mind.” Cordelia said, reaching for her hands again, “I’d be there for you, not her.”  
            Tharja seemed to think it over.  
   “I’ve lost my family, Tharja. Twice now. You’ve still got one. Maybe they don’t agree with what you’ve done, but if they don’t, then you don’t need to handle them alone and you don’t need to stay. You can stay here, with me, forever. But… At least try. You’ve been away for so long. Maybe things will be different.”  
            Tharja sighed.  
   “Fine…” She said, “I suppose I can’t say for sure how they’ll react… Gods know, Mother has surprised me before. But if it goes poorly, we come straight back.”   
   “We’ll come straight back.” Cordelia promised. It would be a long journey either way, but… they’d be together, right? How bad could that be?

            For a moment, she caught herself thinking of Sumia again, and she pulled Tharja into her embrace, before leading her to join her for supper, and talk of travel plans. It took her mind off of her fellow knight.

 

            That evening, Tharja lay awake in bed, feeling Cordelia hugging her close. She felt the silk of her lovers nightgown shift as she breathed, warm against the nape of Tharja’s neck…  
            She was afraid. The worst case scenarios she’d played out in her mind seemed so unlikely. She hadn’t shared the worst with Cordelia. The Knight would have dismissed them, and truthfully, she doubted her Mother would do anything that horrible. She had no love for the woman, of course. But that didn’t mean there were no happy memories of home at all.  
            Maybe going back would be a good thing… If at least to say goodbye and be properly stricken from the family record. She wouldn’t care if that happened.   
            Her hand rested over Cordelia’s and she reflected on the way her beloved had looked when she’d come in that evening… She could almost smell the trouble on her. Maybe it was just the letter… But, it seemed deeper than that. Was there something Cordelia wasn’t telling her? She couldn’t imagine what!   
            Perhaps it was just cabin fever. Cordelia was a soldier at her core. Farm and housework suited her poorly. She excelled at them, of course. But being good at something, and enjoying it were too different things. Tharja knew that all too well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tbh, I picked up, then dropped this chapter multiple times over the past few months. Huge depressive spike, then busy with work, and finally working on my original novel.
> 
> But I picked this back up yesterday. This chapter probably isn't great, but it does move the Plot forward. Not really a fan of putting any sort of OC into this story, but I wanted to deal with Tharja's family a little bit. I always got the vibe that she and her Mother would have a dynamic similar to her and Noire, (testing curses and hexes on her general child abuse) although probably a little worse. 
> 
> I'll let you decide if it all works.


	12. Goodbye

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Still living with the guilt of her adultery, Cordelia plans to try and set things right.

Cordelia left the house with Tharja the next day. They walked to the market together, smiling and in good spirits. There had been some discussion on when to leave. They had few commitments keeping them tethered, and the agreement had been in two days time. As young lovers they browsed the market together, picking up supplies for the coming journey. Food, weapons for hunting and defense, blankets. 

Cordelia had promised to secure a horse and carriage for them to travel with… That proved to be the more difficult task. As they returned home and Tharja took the time to pack up their newly purchased supplies, it fell to Cordelia to secure what she had promised.

There was really only one person she could ask…

 

Sumia’s farm was as lively as ever. The return of her Parents was a welcome sight. After what they had all too recently done, Cordelia had worried about an encounter with her… About what might happen.

She’d thought about her time with Sumia. Of course she had. It had been… incredible, and yet it burned in her mind as a betrayal to be ashamed of. She hadn’t spoken to Sumia since it had happened. Too afraid, either of rejecting her, or finding her fellow knight still hopelessly in love with her, finding her lips on her own again and her heart too weak to resist her… 

At least there was no chance of such a thing with Sumia’s mother. While the Pegasus Knight had gotten her looks and gentle soul from her, her parents shared a happy marriage. One Cordelia had always admired.

Of course they were happy to lend a carriage to her. No charge at all of course. In fact… Sumia could probably help her get it over to her place right now…

Cordelia kept her smile as she heard that, but her heart skipped a beat. Still, she couldn’t deny the help. Couldn’t raise any suspicion...

 

She’d already gotten the barn door open when Sumia joined her, beaming sweetly in the mid afternoon sunlight. She led a Pegasus, the same one they had flown together on that afternoon… 

  “Hey!” She said, voice as chipper as ever and there was an undertone Cordelia recognized… the same one she’d heard whenever Sumia had spoken to Chrom.   
  “Hey.” Cordelia replied, and stepped forward, anticipating a sudden fall on Sumia’s behalf. There was none. 

  “Ma said you needed help bringing this over to your place, right? Are you buying it off us?”

  “Just borrowing.” Cordelia replied, and Sumia didn’t seem bothered by that answer. She helped her hitch the pegasus to the carriage in a contented silence.   
  “Are you heading back to the Halidom?” She finally asked.   
  “Not right now.” Cordelia replied, “Plegia actually…”   
  “Hmm?” Sumia raised an eyebrow, “What’s in Plegia?”   
  “Tharja got a letter from her family. We’re going to visit.”   
  “Oh! That sounds nice!” A somewhat upset note had entered Sumia’s voice, “Um… when will you be coming back?”

  “Not sure.” Cordelia said, “We won’t be gone long, though.” She offered a reassuring smile that didn’t seem to put Sumia’s mind at ease. 

  “Do… you think Tharja will want to stay with her family?” Sumia asked. She finished hitching the Pegasus to the wagon, and ensuring it was secure.   
  “I doubt it. I kinda had to talk her into going.” Cordelia replied, and fell silent. They were both avoiding the obvious, and they both knew it…   
  “So… Do you think… When you come back, we could...”   
  “No…” Cordelia said, cutting her off, “I’m… We’ll see each other again. I promise. I’m going to come home.”   
  “But not to me.” Sumia said quietly, “I was hoping you’d come by earlier, you know… After the other day…”

Cordelia remained silent, watching as the look of sorrow darkened Sumia’s features. She chose her words very carefully.

  “I don’t regret it.” She said, “Sumia, you’ve always been there for me. I trust you over anyone else… I care about you. I love you.”

No words, but Sumia’s eyes flickered towards her.   
  “But what happened the other day… I know I shouldn’t have done it. I promised myself to Tharja. She trusts me, she cares about me… and I’m going to have to live the rest of my life knowing I broke that trust, and even if she never finds out, I’m going to have to make it up to her every single day she’s by my side.”

  “Only if she stays by your side.” Sumia finally said. The comment sounded unusually biting coming from her, “She was the enemy once, you know.”

  “That doesn’t make her evil.” Cordelia replied, “Our enemies have always been just as human as we are. She chose a side in a war she didn’t start.”

  “Yeah, to save her own skin!” Sumia replied, then went quiet once more, swallowing what other angry words she had before letting out a sigh.   
  “I’m sorry… That was out of place…”

She climbed onto the carriage, avoiding Cordelia’s eyes, and she watched Sumia for a moment, before joining her. A hand rested over Sumia’s.   
  “It’s alright. I’m the one who should be sorry… I led you on. After all you said to me, I wasn’t sure how to react. I suppose I was happy about it. I’ve told you before, Sumia. You’re a beautiful woman, and one day you won’t be alone anymore.”

Sumia looked over at her again, still silent. For a moment, Cordelia felt the urge to kiss her, but held herself back.   
  “You deserve better than me… And I’m sorry. I haven’t told anyone else this… But I think once we’re in Plegia, I’m going to set this right. I can’t tell her. Gods no… I can’t do that to her, but I can do something else… I think I’m going to propose...”

Still no reply. Sumia quietly pulled her hand away. She didn’t seem angry. She didn’t seem… Anything. Her expression was difficult to read. She took the reins, and spurred the Pegasus into motion.

As the cart was pulled from the barn, Cordelia caught herself watching Sumia, who refused to look at her.

The ride was thankfully short, but that didn’t make it any less torturous. As the carriage came to a halt beside Cordelia's home, Sumia finally dismounted. 

  “I’ll see you if you return.” She said tonelessly. Still not so much as a glance from her. Tharja was still inside, probably busy. 

Cordelia dismounted the carriage as well, and drew closer to Sumia, who’d shuffled a few steps back towards her farm. She rested a hand on her shoulder.   
  “I told you. I will return.” She said, “We can visit the pub in town! I could bring you something from Pelagia if you’d like!”   
  “There’s no need.” Sumia replied, and let out a tired sigh, “The pub… I suppose that would be nice…”

At last, she looked Cordelia in the eye. Her expression was one of hurt… Sorrow and disappointment… It was heartbreaking to see.   
  “Sumia…”  
 “I’m alright…” She glanced past Cordelia, and she followed her gaze to see Tharja stepping outside.  
  “Safe travels.” Sumia said, before she turned and walked away. 

Blissfully unaware, Tharja appeared at Cordelia’s side. 

  “Everything alright?” She asked.   
  “Yeah... I was just sayin goodbye.” Cordelia replied.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey? Anyone else hear that ticking? Gee... I hope there's not some sort of time bomb in here...


	13. A Lovely Dinner With The In-Laws

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cordelia gets to meet Tharja's family and has a lovely dinner with them, leading to a wonderful future relationship with her in laws and finally getting the family she never had!

Tharja was used to the road by now. The monotony of passing through empty roads, and the nights making camp off the beaten path, when an inn wasn’t nearby.

Most Inn’s usually didn’t cater to armies, so technically being able to stay at an inn at all was a step up, as was not having to train or march. She mostly let the Pegasus do the work, while she enjoyed a book in the back of the carriage, safe from rain or sunburn.

Cordelia spent much of her time up front, getting to know her new beast. Admittedly, it was kind of cute to see the look on her face as she fed it during their rest stops, and she’d even convinced Tharja to try. She’d never been fond of horses or Pegasi, but this one seemed remarkably even tempered. 

The first time it ate an apple from her hand, she caught herself smiling along with Cordelia.   
  “See? He already likes you!” She said, and kissed her cheek. 

Maybe she liked him too.

It really shouldn’t have surprised her how safe the roads of Ylisse were. She had prepared with a spell tome on hand, and a dagger hidden on her person should they be accosted. But within Chrom’s borders, the worst they saw were a couple of wolves who crossed the road, and decided that they weren’t worth the effort, before disappearing back into the brush. 

It was even safe and quiet enough for Tharja to lure Cordelia into the back of the carriage to take intimate care of her once or twice… On the twice, they were passed on the road by a couple of farmers, and fell dead silent, and feigned sleep to avoid embarrassing themselves. Tharja thanked the Gods for the fur blankets necessitated by the milder climate of Ylissitol. They hid a lot.

 

Plagia was a slightly different story, however. The heat and humidity seemed to wear Cordelia down a little bit. At their first stop in a small village, Tharja purchased more climate appropriate attire for her, to prevent the poor woman from overheating… Not that she had much in the way of complaints, seeing Cordelia in the more revealing, yet cool attire Plegian women seemed to favor.

The roads proved to be far less safer as well. A few bandits attempted to be troublesome, and either failed at the end of Cordelia’s blade, or with their very life essence ripped out through one of Tharja’s spells. She took no small amount of pleasure in dispatching those barbarians. One less monster in a land she knew was filled with them. Besides… it provided a nice distraction.

She didn’t know what really awaited them when she got home.

 

During the last legs of the journey, Tharja took the reins, and Cordelia could only watch as the deserts of Plegia turned into sandstone cities with ornate architecture. Their destination proved to be near the edge of one of these cities. She vaguely recognized some of the passing terrain as what she’d come to think of as ‘The Midmire’. This was part of the route they’d used to escape after Emmeryn’s death. 

The unbroken, desert terrain was soon broken up by the sight of a large sandstone manor. The structure seemed ancient, yet well cared for. Iron gates were opened by no one as they drew near, and closed like jaws behind them.

Cordelia sat quietly beside Tharja as their journey reached its end, and their carriage came to a rest inside of a massive courtyard. For its size, and obvious maintenance, the manor seemed abandoned…    
  “Are they gone?” Cordelia asked, a little anxiously.   
  “No. She’s here.” Tharja replied, “I suppose she’s expecting us by now…”   
  “Your Mother?”

Tharja seemed to grimace.   
  “Yes… Her… Just… Just let me talk to her. She can be difficult.”

Coming from Tharja, that statement sounded more ominous than it should have. 

She led the Pegasus to a stable with a few horses, and left it to Cordelia to stable the beast.   
  “No servants?” Cordelia asked as she tended to her Pegasus, “A place this big, I would have thought there’d be servants.”   
  “Mother enjoys her solitude.” Tharja said. “Besides… We wouldn’t have an easy time hiring any.” 

  “Hmm?”    
Thaja gave no further clarification.

 

With the Pegasus tethered and watered, Cordelia followed Tharja to the front door of the house. The walk up to the door was eerily silent. Not even the crows she saw frequently in Plegia. 

The door to the house was unlocked, and inside, the silence seemed almost deafening. The light was low, giving the place a gloomy, dour look, not unlike the haunted castles Cordelia and Sumia had read about in storybooks as children. A sweeping grand staircase led to an upper level shrouded in darkness.

Then, came the footsteps. Like distant thunderclaps, and deafening. If Cordelia had been holding a glass of water, she’d have seen ripples on the surface.

_ Boom.  _

_ Boom.  _

Tharja stared up into the darkness quietly, knowing what… who was coming. 

_ Boom. _

_ Boom. _

_ Boom. _

_ Boom. _

Silence.

In the darkness upstairs, Cordelia could vaguely make out something in the shadows. Not a person, no… an absence of a person perhaps… So dark that they seemed more like a hole in reality itself.  
_“Tharja…”_ They said. Their voice was much like their daughters, although had a low purr to it, not unlike a Lion or Puma before the kill

Aadhaya slowly began to descend the stairs, entering the light as she did. She wore all black, with long hair that trailed behind her and impossibly pale skin despite the heat of Plegia. Her face was long and thoughtful, with a small but wide mouth. Her black eyes stared intently at both Tharja and Cordelia, and were impossible to read.

Her black dress trailed far behind her like a serpent, and hung around her, dark and loose with a large pale neck frill around her neck. Cordelia wasn’t sure if she resembled an unnatural flower or a reared up cobra.    
  “So, my daughter returns from the war.” Aadhaya crooned, “With… a companion, no less… Interesting. I had wondered where you had been for so long. Step forward, dearest…”

Tharja didn’t move, and when she didn’t, her Mother spoke again.   
  “My… Is she deaf, dear Daughter? Tell her to step forward!”

Realizing who she meant now, Cordelia sheepishly did as asked, stepping forward, as Aadhaya bridged the gap between them.    
  “A woman… Unorthodox, yet… not unexpected…” She said, and brushed Cordelia’s hair from her eyes.   
  “Of Ylisse… Now that is rather unexpected… Do you speak?”   
  “Y-yes… My name is Cordelia!” She replied, a little taken aback by the sheer presence of this woman. She was tall, almost inhumanly so.   
  “Cordelia. A lovely name… So you’re the one who stole my daughter away from me. Presumably you are also the one who opened the letter.” She gave Tharja a knowing side eye.   
  “It was a mistake, Mother.” Tharja replied quietly, “And I have nothing to hide from her.”   
  “So you don’t… Well then, a pleasure to meet you Cordelia. I am Aadhaya, and this is my home… Please. I have been eagerly awaiting your arrival, and I can only anticipate that you must be famished after your journey… Won’t you follow me?”

She turned away with no further word, and disappeared down a darkened hallway.

She’d barely said a word to her daughter, and Cordelia had found their interaction to be… cold… That was really the only way she could describe it.

As they followed Aadhaya down the hallway, she said nothing, and the only sound was their echoing footsteps. She couldn’t handle it…

  “It’s very dark in here.” She noted, striving for conversation.   
  “It needs to be.” Aadhaya replied, “In my youth, I was diagnosed with a rare skin condition. A hypersensitivity to sunlight. Prolonged exposure irritates my skin, and so Darkness is a necessary requirement to my comfort. Tharja was fortunate that she did not inherit it.”

  “That must be a terrible way to live.” Cordelia said, and for the first time she heard Aadhaya laugh. It set her mind at ease to hear genuine humor in it.    
  “Do you think so? I disagree… There’s much to do outside of the sun. I have lived a fulfilling life in relative comfort. I’ve earned my fortune through my skills as a Sorcerer, and seldom needed to face the daylight. At times I see my condition as a blessing… I have lived a life of comfort that few in this world have ever enjoyed. Can you say the same, Cordelia?” She turned to look into the woman’s eyes, before opening a door at the end of the hall.   
  “Mircea, our Daughter has returned and brought company! I do hope you’ve prepared!”

The room they entered was a large dining hall, with space for six. This room was brighter than many of the others. The table was set with succulent looking foods, and had only a single occupant, a man with dark curly hair and sharp, angular features.  
  “Ah? At last!” He said. Cordelia assumed that this was Micrea. He drew nearer to them, and she could see a few of his features matched Tharja’s. He must have been her Father.  
  “My darling… it is so good to see you again!” He said, clasping Tharja’s hands. A ghost of a smile appeared on her lips.  
  “You’ve grown! Is that muscle? Seems that your time in the Military has done you good! After the War, we heard nothing and we grew worried… No letters of your death, and yet you didn’t return to us! You should know that I kept a watch for you!”  
  “I’m sorry, Father.” Tharja said, “I… I suppose I lost track of time after the war…”  
  “I forgive you. You’re here now, and who is this…”  
Mircea looked towards Cordelia now.  
  “A friend of yours, perhaps? Forgive me for failing to introduce myself, I am Mircea, Lady Aadhaya’s husband!”  
  “Dispell with the niceties, Mircea.” The woman in question said, “Seat our guest. Fetch her wine.”  
  “Of course, my love…” Mircea said, pulling away quickly before the introduction could be finished.  
  “You’ll have to excuse him. He’s far too talkative.” Aadhaya sighed, and pulled up a seat at the head of the table for herself. Tharja sat at her right, with space for Cordelia beside her. Mircea returned with wine for them all to share, and soon with all parties seated, he urged them to eat.

The food was incredible, of course. Rich and full of flavor.    
  “So then, Daughter…” Aadhaya said after a short while had passed, “I am curious, you must have stories of your endeavors.”   
  “Not many to share, no…” Tharja said quietly.   
  “Really? I had thought that as a member of King Gangrel’s personal batallion, you would have done quite a bit during the war. I heard word that the Mad King seemed all too keen on leading the charge himself. Even personally invading Ylisse to deal with that lying whore who held their throne…”

Cordelia felt her fist clench. Emmeryn had been many things, but she had been neither a liar nor a whore. She could feel Aadhaya watching her.   
  “Oh, I do apologize… You’re of Ylisse… How easy to forget. I must watch what I say.” Her tone held absolutely no trace of actual remorse for her words.   
  “I understand if there is some lingering hostility.” Cordelia said. “There’s never really been lasting peace between our nations, but… Well, perhaps it’s best if we avoid discussing such matters!”

While she had wondered at how evasive Tharja had been to questions about the war, she’d wisely chosen to keep her mouth shut out of uncertainty about where her Family stood on the War. This made it all too obvious.    
  “An astute observation…” Mircea said, only to be cut off my his wife.   
  “Perhaps, but don’t tell me you aren’t interested in our Daughters war stories, dear Husband. After all… As a former soldier… You must have a vested interest in hearing about her career. Why, you were the one who boasted to all in town after she advanced to Gangrel’s battalion! Serving under the King himself! While I really don’t mind that the Mad Fool is dead, I am curious as to how it happened, and how our Daughter survived…”

Her eyes fixed on Tharja now.    
  “I transferred out of that battalion.” Tharja finally said, “I wasn’t at the Kings side during the closing days of the war.”

  “You willingly gave up such an honor?” Aadhaya asked, “Hmph… Interesting… But in the end wise, I suppose. I’ve heard they suffered such heavy losses at the hands of that arrogant child, Chrom. Such a barbarian, butchering his way through the good Faithful of Grima to slaughter a man mad with vengeance. What an anticlimactic ending.”

Tharja picked at her food with no response, and Aadhaya continued to talk.   
  “So then, Cordelia, tell me… How did you and my lovely Daughter cross paths?”

Cordelia struggled to think of something. During the war, her interactions with Tharja had been fairly limited. They’d spoken on a few occasions, but the Mage had mostly kept to herself and Cordelia had spent much of her time either training, tending to Aurora or spending time with some of the friends she’d made.   
  “Well… There was a bandit attack.” She said, “Tharja was injured and I came to her aid. I suppose we grew close after that, while recovering from our injuries.”

  “Really? So… saved by a farmgirl.” Aadhaya teased. Cordelia should have left it at that… Yup. She was a simple farmgirl. Live with that lie, leave as fast as she could with Tharja and never look back. It would’ve been a good plan!  
It wasn’t what she did, but it would’ve been a good plan.  
  “I’m a Pegasus Knight… Actually…” Cordelia admitted, before trailing off. Tharja went stiff and gave her a panicked look from the corner of her eye.   
  “A Pegasus Knight.” 

Aadhaya’s voice was even and toneless.   
  “An enemy soldier… Fascinating… So then, Daughter… You fell in love with an enemy soldier… A battlefield romance, was it? Tell me, Cordelia… Was it compassion or chance that saw you rescue what must have been to you a rival soldier, during a bandit attack. I would greatly love to hear the details of such an event…”   
  “Well… I mean, we were in different battalions. The bandits attacked her group and they were nearly wiped out. Our squad leader always has been a compassionate man… He ordered us to help.”

  “A man? In a squad of Pegasus Knights? My understanding was that they were all women.”

Cordelia fell quiet once more.   
  “Well… It wasn’t a squad of Pegasus Knights either… Just… A regular squad…”

Aadhaya’s eyes remained trained on her, then shifted to Tharja.   
  “And so… The remnants of your squad, and your rescuers simply parted ways? No prisoners? Difficult to believe, especially in such a brutal war…” She hissed.   
  “Dearest… Perhaps we should cut this discussion short…” Mircea suggested, “Be grateful that Tharja is alive, and that this woman saved her life!” 

Aadhaya gestured sharply with her fingers, and Mircea fell silent, a choked gag escaping him, before he sank back in his seat, easily defeated.   
  “You’ll have to forgive my husband…” Aadhaya growled, “He forgets his place… Tell me, Tharja… How long did you spend with these other soldiers… Did you fight by their side? Did you betray your King, your Country?!”

Tharja remained silent for a while, before the stiffness in her body passed, and she sighed.   
  “Gangrel was a raving idiot. Undeserving of the crown. What kind of King sacrifices his real to satisfy his own twisted thirst for vengeance over a war that is long over? His enemy was dead, and in his place, his daughter! I watched as he took her as his prisoner. One leader to the other… One sacrificing herself to stop the bloodshed against her people, the other throwing his loyal soldiers to their deaths to satisfy his grudge. I wasn’t the only one to see it! I simply chose to act as opposed to hiding like the other deserters!”

  “And so… she at last speaks Truth…” Aadhaya growled, “A deserter… How… Sickening…”   
  “You must know that Gangrel was insane!” Cordelia interrupted, “Emmeryn offered him peace, as did Chrom! He declined!”   
  “You have no place to speak in my house.” Aadhaya said, and with a similar gesture of her hands, Cordelia felt her throat close up. Not suffocating… but painful. She couldn’t scream, but Gods did she want too… She could see from the look in Mircea’s eyes he pitied her. He knew that pain all too well.   
  “MOTHER!” Tharja cried, and raised her hands to try and undo the spell.   
  “I’m disappointed, dear Tharja… You not only betrayed your King, but you fell into the arms of this Whore from Ylisse… Tell me, does she know what you did before you betrayed your King?”

Tharja’s eyes widened in momentary fear.   
  “No…”   
 “I recall your last letter to your Father… He shared them with me, of course… Such an account. Gangrel sacking Ylisstol with his Battalion at his side, carving his way through the city gates… and then the Vanguard… The largest fleet of Pegasus Knights you had ever seen… and his orders to decimate them… How many did you kill, my dear Daughter? You never said, and yet your tone… That of pride…”

Cordelia’s eyes widened, and fixated on Tharja who remained frozen, horrified and unable to speak… or deny what Cordelia was hearing.   
  “Tell me, Cordelia, was it… Was THAT the battle where you met? Where she betrayed her King?” Aadhaya asked, almost mocking her. 

Her hex at last free’d her, and Cordelia gasped in a breath of air, before looking at Tharja.   
  “I… They were orders…” Tharja stammered, unable to say a single thing to justify what had happened. 

All Cordelia could do was remember the screams… Patricia taken down by a spell of dark magic that killed the Pegasus beneath her, and sent her plummeting to her death, screaming in mortal terror as she reached out to Cordelia… Annabel shot right off her mount by a bolt of lightning, eyes wide and vacant as she fell, gratefully spared the terror of her fall… and Kasia… Her beast had reared and nearly crashed into Cordelia. She’d tried to save her of course, urging her to leap and get onto Aurora. But there had been no time. Cordelia had grabbed her gauntlet… and watched as her hand slipped out of it… watched as Kasia, one of her friends fell to her death below, tears in her eyes as she called out for Cordelia one last time…

She remembered seeing the grave of Hester, the Knight who had begged her to flee upon her first return to the Ylisstol.

Which ones had Tharja killed?

She felt her lovers hands on her shoulders, as Tharja struggled to find something to say to justify all of this… and she pulled away. 

Distantly, she could hear Aadhaya’s laugh, as mirthful as it was before.    
  “Wait…” Tharja stammered, “I can…”

Cordelia just wanted her gone. Wanted to get as far away from her as she could. Logic had taken a backseat to raw emotion. Rage and pain drove her back into that darkened hallway and away from the laughter… that infernal laughter!   
  “Cordelia! Stop!” Tharja cried, and gripped Cordelia’s shoulder.   
  “They were orders!” She said, “I had to!”   
  “And that makes a difference?” Cordelia asked bitterly.    
  “Shouldn’t it? How many soldiers of Plegia did you kill before I joined your side? How many dark mages have you killed since?”

  “It’s not the same, and you KNOW that!” Cordelia growled, “They were my Sisters! I trained with them, fought with them, lived with them and I was supposed to die with them!”

Tharja had no response for that. Her mouth opened, then closed as Cordelia pulled away again. Like a lost animal she pursued her.   
  “Don’t… I’m sorry… I didn’t… Damn it… Please! Don’t go!”

Tharja cut her off, and on her face was a look Cordelia had never expected to see. Genuine hurt. She couldn’t imagine Tharja crying, but she knew she was close to finding out what that looked like…    
  “I’m sorry… Just… stay… I love you…”   
  “You love me?” Cordelia asked, “After what you’ve done…? You knew. You knew what they meant to me. You had to… and you were right there. Their blood is on YOUR hands!”    
  “I didn’t… I know… I’m not innocent, and it’s weighed on me! But I WANT what we have to work!”

  “So you lied to me?” Cordelia asked, well aware of the cold irony in that statement.   
  “Yes.” Tharja admitted, “And I’m sorry…”

Cordelia regarded her coldly… hatefully almost.   
  “I guess we’re both liars then.” She said, and pushed past her again.   
  “W-what?”   
  “You think you’re the only one I could have? That you’re special? You’re not! I’m leaving, Tharja. I’m going back to MY cottage, and you can stay here, with the rest of the murderers. Maybe I’ll go and ask Sumia for a drink. She seems interested…”

  “Sumia?” Tharja paused for a moment, working it out and Cordelia watched her, relishing in the hurt that soon permeated her features.    
  “I thought it was a moment of weakness… But no… I think I see it now… I know exactly where I need to be.”

Those words carried no other meaning than to hurt, and clearly they did. As she began to walk again, Tharja didn’t follow her, remaining rooted to the spot, unable to fully process all that had just happened, as she watched Cordelia leave her. 

 

Cordelia didn’t bother with the carriage. She didn’t give a damn about hitching it up. She didn’t give a damn about what Sumia’s parents might say when they never got it back. She didn’t give much of a damn about anything. Alone, she unhitched her Pegasus, and mounted it. She caught herself glancing at the door to the sandstone mansion she’d arrived in a mere hour before. Then she gripped her Pegasus’ reins and goaded it off into the sky, leaving this damned place behind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0KWyWwVp0E


	14. A Mothers Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tharja works out some things with her Mother.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I usually don't post music but these songs were what I was listening to for this scene
> 
> Myrkur - Ulvinde  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9cNZQIzShc
> 
> Myrkur - Gladiatrix  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMjIocvzXG0

_ Sumia? _

_ Sumia?! _

_ Was she truly the one who stole her from me? _

**_I should kill her…_ **

_ Then you’d never get her back. _

**_She cheated! Kill them both!_ **

**_She never loved you! You were just a warm body for her to fuck._ **

_ A lot of lengths to go to for a warm body to fuck…  _

_ You were TOGETHER! YOU WERE BUILDING SOMETHING! _

**_And look how much she cared._ **

_ What if it was going on before? What if you stole her? _

**_It doesn’t matter. She PROMISED. YOU!_ **

_ And what if it was a moment of weakness? _

**_Sumia… Always falling. Always pathetic._ ** **_  
_ ** _ Of course she was pulling everyones strings! _

**_She must have been so desperate when she lost her Precious Chrom…_ **

_ Would you have done the same if it was Robin? _

**_That is different._ **

_ Is it really? _

Tharja lay awake in her old bedroom, dark and gloomy as ever, as thoughts ran through her mind at a mile a minute. She felt hot and uncomfortable. The heat of Plegia was uncomfortable and simply too much for her to endure. 

Sleep wouldn’t come to her. Every thought she had was of Cordelia, or worse… of Sumia.

It was horribly easy to picture them together, and even though the very thought of it filled her with blinding rage.

**_The bitch. She stole her from you. She stole her heart. That was YOURS!_ **

The thoughts lingered in her head, until at last she drifted into sleep, curled up and thinking of the last vision she’d had of Cordelia, flying away from her on her Pegasus.

 

Morning found her back in the dark dining room, her Mother and Father in their same positions, only with different food. Tharja remained dead silent. Aadhaya regarded her quietly from her spot at the head of the table, having touched about as much of her breakfast as Tharja had. Of course she’d be the one to ultimately break the silence.   
  “Come, come, Daughter. Eat. Despite your… problems… we are happy to see you again. I’m sure your treachery and promiscuity aren’t crimes that can never be forgiven… Indeed, with the King dead… Who would ever truly know?”

She speared a piece of egg onto her fork, and slid it into her mouth. Mircea remained dead silent, as did Tharja.   
  “I suppose I should consider it lucky that you returned to us, instead of galavanting about with that Whore and her boy King… I wonder… Do you think she’s opened her legs to him too? She was so content to do it with another woman. Why not also a man?”

Tharja tensed up. Cordelia’s love of Chrom had never been a secret, even from her. And yet she’d believed Cordelia had given him up, much as she had given up on her Robin…   
  “Perhaps this was simply a rite of passage… Everyone gets their ride…”

  “Enough.” Tharja finally said, glaring daggers at her Mother. Aadhaya glared straight back at her, but said nothing. Only glared knowingly.

Dropping her fork, Tharja left her breakfast untouched, and sharing a sad look with her Father, returned to her room.

 

She left her diadem on the dressing room table, illuminated by a single ray of light. She’d always liked that diadem, and wore it almost always. It was cheap bronze. Nothing remarkable, and yet it had been a gift from her Grandmother before she’d passed. A gift she herself had worn long ago, as a Dark Mage. She’d told Tharja it would help her focus. She hadn’t believed it was anything more than a cheap trinket, but she’d held on to it simply to make the old woman proud.

Her Grandmother and her Mother had never truly gotten along. Perhaps that was just how it was in her family. Mother’s and Daughters hating each other in an endless cycle… Gods, if she ever had a daughter, she’d have to see about breaking that cycle, if she could… if she could…

She stared out her window, in the direction Cordelia had taken off in, and imagined a conversation between them…

She kept asking why. Why she’d betrayed her, why she’d chosen to be with someone else… if there was anything to be salvaged… she fantasized about hurting Cordelia. Killing Sumia in front of her…

Some of those fantasies ended with her killing Cordelia as well.

Some ended with her and Cordelia sharing a kiss over Sumia’s corpse. All was forgiven. The bitch was dead. 

The more she thought about Sumia, the more she wondered why… Why… Why…

 

She avoided her Mother for the rest of the day, and the day afterwards, trying to make sense of just what had happened… of why… 

The next day she didn’t even come down for breakfast, and stood at the window, thinking over what had happened. 

Did she even still want Cordelia? After what she’d done? It wasn’t the same as the slaughter of the Pegasus Knights. That had been orders. If she’d refused, she’d have been executed as a deserter. There were no Shepherd's to join then. No way out unless she wanted to do it alone, and Gangrel had, had many soldiers more skilled than she was.

There wasn’t a choice. Not for her. But Cordelia had, had one… 

 

Aadhaya came to her in the late afternoon, opening her door without knocking.   
  “There you are, dear daughter.” She crooned. “You really shouldn’t spend so much time moping about in here over a whore…”

Tharja twitched when she heard that word.

She was bothered enough as it was, she didn’t need her Mother making it worse… and she would make it worse… that was all she’d do…

  “I was thinking, perhaps it’s time we took your mind off of this matter… I have a friend. She has such a dashing young son. Perhaps the perfect one for you.”

  “No, thank you.” Tharja said plainly, “I won’t be staying.”

  “Oh? And where will you go?” her Mother hissed, “Back to Ylisse?”   
  “I have a place in the Halidom where I can stay.” Tharja replied, finally looking back at her.   
  “I’ll find a way to survive.”

  “You’ll do no such thing.” Aadhaya replied, blocking the door. “You think I’ll allow you to run back to that Whore? That Nation of fools? You’ve got another thing coming, darling, Tharja… You are MY child, MY daughter… Part of MY Family… Did you really think that I’d simply permit you to run back to your Boy King?”  
  “He was a better King than Gangrel!” Tharja replied coldly, “With a fraction of the soldiers, he decimated Gangrel, and didn’t lose a single one of his inner circle. It’s far more than that Lunatic ever did…”   
  “That lunatic was your charge, and you betrayed him, for what? Lust? Survival? Cowardice?”  
  “Say it WAS Survival!” Tharja snapped, raising her voice like she never really had before. “Perhaps I didn’t want to be sacrificed by a mad King? Suppose I valued my life! You’ve never been a soldier! You don’t know what it’s like! The killing, the death… You’d think a Dark Mage would be fine with it, but it doesn’t matter how hardened you are! I killed people fighting to protect their nation, no matter what side I was on! I killed people afraid to die, I did it because I had to, and _do you have any idea what that’s like?_ I watched Gangrel send soldiers, LOYAL soldiers to die for nothing. Just because he could. No strategy. No thought. I _know_ War requires sacrifices. There are casualties, but these _weren’t_ casualties, this was just senseless death to feed Gangrel’s twisted need for revenge! I had friends, and **_they’re fucking dead now!_** You want to know why I defected? Because I saw just how bad it was! I saw that I was going to die on that battlefield if I didn’t, and why? For nothing? What a miserable way to die… a pawn in someone else's meaningless game… **I am in charge of my fate!** Not Gangrel. **_I decide what cause is worth dying for!_** Not Gangrel! You have no idea what it’s like. What I’ve been through. What I’ve _seen._ So for once, Mother… Shut your thrice damned mouth, because contrary to what you believe you are _not_ the smartest person in the world, and you are **_nothing_** compared to some of the people I’ve fought and killed!”

Aadhaya stared silently at her daughter, before letting out a sigh.   
  “Oh, sweet Tharja… You should know better than to talk back to your Mother…”

Her fingers twitched, and Tharja suddenly felt incredible pain all throughout her body. Her arms contorted behind her back, and she let out a cry of pain.   
  “You think War has made you stronger than me?” Aadhaya asked, “You always were… always will be a pathetic little child…” 

Tharja fell to a knee, in pain, her teeth bared as she glared at her Mother.    
  “Kneel… Apologize… Perhaps I’ll make it easier for you…”

This pain was familiar… The punishment for disobedience. A painful freezing hex, that prevented movement for several hours… and Aadhaya liked to twist her victims into an agonizing position to increase the pain felt as the hex took its time to wear off. 

Aadhaya took a step closer, and Tharja slowly pulled her arm out from behind her back. Her Mother paused, watching this show of defiance, and increased the force she exerted on her Daughter.

Tharja fixed her eyes on her Mother… Magic without a tome was harder, but she could still pull it off… She remembered how to do it…

A bolt of thunder escaped her fingers, striking her Mother in the chest and throwing her against the door to Tharja’s room. Her hex faded, and Tharja was free to move again. The sight of her own Mother, writing in pain on the ground as she attempted to pick herself up was a strange one… But not unwelcome. How long had it been since this vile woman had, had a taste of her own medicine?

Aadhaya slowly started to stand, and Tharja saw her readying something. Felt the crackle of dark magic in the air around her. She gave her Mother no such opening, and unleashed a simple knockback hex. Her Mother was thrown against the door again, and forced it open. She spilled out into the hallway, and against the railing overlooking the entrance hall of the house, but this time her landing wasn’t as clumsy. Aadhaya was on her feet quickly, and unleashed a crackling ball of dark energy at her daughter. Tharja ducked past it, and unleashed a blinding flash of flames. Her Mother waved her hand, dismissing it, but the distraction had proved efficient enough. Tharja rushed to the side and unleashed a powerful spell at Aadhaya, catching her off guard. She stumbled, but didn’t fall.   
  “Insolent child!” She snarled, “You fight like a coward…”

As Tharja readied another hex, a silencing one this time, she saw Aadhaya gesture sharply towards her, dark lightning crackling at her fingertips. It struck Tharja before she was ready, causing her to tremble and shriek. She collapsed backwards, as her Mother coldly electrocuted her, screaming and twisting on the ground.   
  “You’re a pathetic mage, at best… You think War has hardened you? No… you’re no less a child than you were before… A child who deserves to be put in her place…”

As she advanced on Tharja, her dark lightning stopped, and the woman lay on the ground, her breath coming in shuddering pants. Aadhaya gestured sharply, and Tharja was lifted off the ground, immobilized and weak.   
  “For this… I think you’ve earned a few days to think very carefully about your future in Plegia. You think your companions would miss you? Especially now that they know you’re a murderer? I could send them your head, and I’m sure they’d thank me for it…”

A spike of dark energy appeared in her hand, and took the vague shape of a blade. Just a threat, but one that Tharja trusted her to follow through with if provoked...   
  “You… think I’d hide it from them?” Tharja asked weakly. A small orb of dark energy appeared in her hand, hidden from her Mother.   
  “You lied to the Whore, why not the rest of them?” Aadhaya asked.   
  “I may not have told Cordelia… but Chrom knew from day one… If you’re going to make allies. Give them a reason to trust you. They’ll come looking for me.”   
  “Then I’ll welcome your boy King with open arms so you can watch as  _ I can carve out his heart! _ ”   
  “ _ Watch this… _ ” Tharja spat. Not the best quote, as far as they went but she wasn’t really in much of a position to think of something more clever to say. 

With all of her effort, she raised her hand. The dark energy ball she’d accumulated exploded with a burst of force, throwing the two Mages away from each other. Aadhaya crashed against the railing of the staircase, and lay there for a moment.

Tharja picked herself up. She was sore all over, and tasted her own blood. Not a good sign. She examined her hand. It was burned, but not too badly, at least… she could still fight. 

Aadhaya began to rise slowly. Her pale skin looked charred, and her eyes were murderous. Tharja knew that she had destroyed the last bit of restraint her Mother had, that would ensure her survival in this battle.   
  “So… Tharja…” She spat, “You’ve chosen treason… and from this choice, understand there is no return. You fight for Ylisse? For whores? For murderous Kings? Then you will  _ die  _ for it.”

As her Mother came, dark energy crackling around her, Tharja tried her best to prepare herself, but there was little she could do. Her Mother clawed at her, and caught Tharja in the arm. The release of energy upon their contact sent Tharja flying over the railing, and into the great hall below. The fall was agonizing, and she could hear her own bones cracking as she hit the ground below.

Aadhaya looked bitterly down at her, and when she detected her daughter had survived the fall, she made her way to the stairs, to finish the job.

Tharja felt weak, and watched from the corner of her eye as Aadhaya drew nearer. She knew that she couldn’t defeat her… not in a straight up battle, not in her current state. 

Aadhaya stopped beside an ornate suit of armor, and pulled a rapier from its grasp. She inspected it, and ran her hand along the blade. Sparks flew from where she touched, guaranteeing the edge would be murderously sharp. 

Tharja looked to the door of the main hall, and reached out with her mind, unlocking it, then looked up at the windows. They were designed to let as little light in as possible… and yet… 

She looked back at her Mother, who had reached the top of the stairs, rapier in hand, and made her move. 

Tharja climbed to her feet, readying the same concussive force hex, in a meek defensive stance. Aadhaya began to descend the steps, eyes locked on her daughter, and only her daughter.

Good.

In one swift movement, Tharja threw her hex, but not at her Mother, at one of the windows. The force blew the glass out, and let pure, unfiltered sunlight in. The beam hit her Mother dead on, and Aadhaya let out a shriek, before leaping back a step. Tharja cracked a smile.   
  “You bitch…” Aadhaya growled, “You disgusting little  **_whore!_ ** ”

She leapt to the banister of the staircase, around the light, and lunged at Tharja. She only barely dodged that slash, as well as her Mother’s ruthless backswing. As Aadhaya readied her next attack, Tharja summoned a bolt of lightning to strike the tip of her sword. The scream Aadhaya let out was almost satisfying to listen to. She extended her hand, releasing a fireball that lit up the darkened room. Aadhaya covered her face, and the flames passed her unscathed. Her grip on the rapier tightened. A dark energy encompassed the blade, and she pointed it at Tharja, as if marking her for death. Her hair had become messy, her eyes narrowed and exuded a pure venom. 

Neither woman spoke. 

Aadhaya lunged at Tharja once more, and in doing so, fell into the trap set by her daughter. Tharja’s concussive hex hit the ground beneath her, launching her up off the ground, and into the air above her Mother’s head. As she flew, she slung another concussive hex at the window that he been behind her. It shattered, and bathed Aadhaya in bright sunlight. The woman stumbled drunkenly out of its glow, only to be struck by a blast of concentrated dark energy by Tharja. 

Aadhaya tried to regain her footing, but Tharja showed her no mercy this time. She shattered another window, bathing herself in sunlight, and slung another energy ball at her mother. Aadhaya struck it with her sword, dissipating it, only to be hit by a concussive blast from Tharja. She stumbled back a step, towards the front door, and her eyes widened as she realized what her daughter was up to.

The front door… 

She barely stopped the next concussive blast from Tharja, and failed the next one, sending her off her feet and towards the door. She hurried to get up, and swung her blade, deflecting the next hex, and the one after that. She tried to take a step forward, only to receive to blasts from Tharja. She couldn’t possibly stop both of them. 

She was slammed against the doors, which opened at her touch, sending Aadhaya spilling out into the sunlight of the courtyard.

It  **_burned!_ **

She tried to stumble towards the door, only to be greeted by Tharja, who struck her with a final blast, throwing her away from the door, and into the sun lit courtyard. The blade fell from her hand, and as she reached for it, she felt a horrible, agonizing pain beyond the burning. Her body was pressed into the hot sand, and from the corner of her eye, she saw Tharja’s hands outstretched to her… utilizing the same hex she’d so often used as a punishment.

Her body refused to move. The pain was too much, and Aadhaya lay in the burning sand, blistering in the unforgiving sun… defeated…

Tharja lowered her hands, panting slowly.   
  “You don’t control my life anymore, Mother.” She said coldly. “You’ve lost your say.”

  “They’ll kill you in Ylisse…” Aadhaya growled, trying to force her head up, “The whore’ll kill you… You’re a traitor… your Nation… your own Mother!”

  “Plegia won’t care. And as for you, Mother… As of today, you’re dead to me. We won’t see each other again.”

  “Oh but **_WE WILL!_** ” Aadhaya spat through blistering lips, “I brought you into this ugly world, Precious Tharja… and **_I will remove you from it!_** ”  
  “Then I’ll just kill you.”  
No emotion in Tharjas’ voice. No response to Aadhaya’s screams of hatred, as she stepped over her body, and towards the exit of the courtyard, leaving her behind forever.

 

Time to go home. 


	15. Alone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cordelia comes to terms with a few things...

The Pegasus trotted tiredly up to the cottage, and Cordelia dismounted. The journey back hadn’t been as long… but it was still long, and with poorer supplies. 

How long had it been? Surely no more than a month… and yet in the rain, ‘Home’ looked no less desolate than when she’d arrived with Tharja…

She stared at the building for some time, before leading her Pegasus to the stable to feed and water him.

Gods… he didn’t even have a name yet...

 

She made some tea for herself indoors, and listened to the rain fall on the roof. A quick inspection confirmed that there was nothing too off in the house. Nothing had changed much… That was good, she supposed.

Sipping her tea, Cordelia stared at the empty spot across from her at the kitchen table.

_ I fucked up… _

_ You knew better… _

_ She was an enemy soldier! _

_ It never dawned on you what she really was? _

_ She hid it from you…  _

_ And even then you still cheated…  _ _   
_ __ “Gods… what a mess…” Cordelia murmured, before allowing her head to sink onto the table. She remained there for a few moments, trying to run through the information again.

Tharja had lied.

She’d cheated.

What a pair they’d made!

_ Should I have left her? _

_ And deal with her anger on the way back? _

_ You know what you did was worse…. _

_ SHE MURDERED OUR FRIENDS! _

_ Was it willing? Do you think she enjoyed it? Or was it just orders? Same as it was just orders when you were stabbing Dark Mages through Plegia to rescue Emmeryn? _

She felt the tears before she registered them. Her heart was racing, and Cordelia tightened her arms around her head, covering it completely as she let herself weep, because that was all she could do. Weep.

She heard the door open, and her heart leapt…

  “Go away…” She said weakly.   
  “Cordelia?” A voice asked… Not Tharja. Sumia.   
  “I just came by to check on a few things at the house and saw the Pegasus… Um… Welcome back…?”

Cordelia peeked out from behind her arms, and could see Sumia looking around. She hadn’t bothered lighting any lanterns. She wanted the house dark.    
  “Where’s Tharja?” Sumia asked slowly.   
  “I left her in Plegia, with her Bitch mother…” Cordelia growled, and looked up. 

Sumia stared quietly at her.   
  “Did she… Did she find out…”

  “I told her.” Cordelia said, “But it doesn’t matter… She had her own lie to tell…”

Sumia stood in silence, and Cordelia kept that silence for several awful minutes…. 

  “Sit down.” She finally said, and sighed. Sumia pulled out  Tharja’s chair the chair across from her.    
  “What happened?” Sumia asked.   
  “Tharja was in Ylisstol… with Gangrel…” Cordelia said, “Our SISTERS… She was there to kill our SISTERS!”

Sumia placed a hand over her mouth, eyes widening.   
  “Oh my… I…” She paused, trailing off. “I didn’t… But… She was there on orders, r-right?”

  “It doesn’t  _ matter! _ ” Cordelia seethed, “They were MY Sisters! I watched them die and she… she was right there casting the spells… She killed them… My s-sisters… she… She should've…”

Ugly tears filled Cordelia’s eyes, and Sumia rose to comfort her. She was swatted away by Cordelia.   
  “No… No, you shouldn’t…”

  “I’m here as your friend, Cordelia, nothing else!” Sumia assured her.  
Cordelia was silent in response, and Sumia approached again.  
  “That’s… a terrible secret… but she must have regretted it, right? I mean, she was with us! And we both know that war… War sends you to places you don’t want to go… Gods, Cordelia I’ve _killed_ people… I… I don’t believe those words when they come out of my mouth… But I’ve done it…”

Still no response from Cordelia.   
  “They have to bother you, don’t they?” She asked, “The people you’ve killed…”   
  “It was always them, or me.” Cordelia replied.   
  “Maybe it was the same for them… I know it was the same for me.”

Cordelia shrugged her off again, and rose from the chair.   
  “Maybe…” She said softly, her voice shaking.   
  “It could have been the same for Tharja.”   
  “AND WHY ARE YOU DEFENDING HER?” Cordelia snapped, turning to glare into Sumia’s eyes suddenly.   
  “You’re the one who wanted her out of the picture!”   
  “N-no!” Sumia stammered, “I didn’t… I wanted… But… but…”   
  “But what?”   
  “I don’t know what I wanted… you… I guess… You were always so perfect and…”   
  “Evidently, I’m not perfect.”

Sumia frowned

  “Well… you are to me… I’m sorry, I’m not trying to…”

  “It’s fine…” Cordelia sighed. She approached the kitchen window and stared out into the rain.   
  “I’ve had some time to think about what I’d say to you when you came back.” Sumia said softly, “I… well… I wanted to say I’m sorry for putting you on the spot. For tempting you… I… I am in love with you, Cordelia. I know that… But… I couldn’t ask you to throw away something you had for me.”

  “It doesn’t matter.” Cordelia replied, “I already threw it away…”

She thought back to Aadhaya… had she planned for some such explosive outburst? She’d seemed like the plotting type.  
Sumia took a tentative step closer, and Cordelia ignored her.  
  “I’m tired, Sumia.” She sighed, “I… I can’t do this right now… I want to go home…”  
  “But you are…”  
  “This miserable fucking place isn’t a home! It’s property! What do I need it for? A life? A future? A little homestead, where I can bring a husband, and leave another little girl to grow up alone because Mommy’s never around?” She scoffed.  
  “I should torch this place…”   
  “Don’t!” Sumia cried, “You’d be throwing away so much!”

Cordelia didn’t move for a moment, then she sighed.   
  “I don’t think I’d have it in me…” She admitted, and looked over her shoulder at Sumia.   
  “I… I think I should go back to the Halidom… Ask Chrom for a room in the barracks…”   
  “There’s not a lot you could do there.” Sumia said, and Cordelia dismissed her with a wave of her hand.   
  “Everything I want to do, is there.” She said.

 

What hadn’t been packed for the trip to Plegia, was packed for the trip back to Ylisstol. She’d shooed Sumia out long ago, and now truly alone, Cordelia locked the house and saddled up her Pegasus. 

She rode through the morning, and found herself back at the capital by late noon. The guards of course welcomed her with open arms, and were all too happy to present her an audience with Chrom himself.

Gods… what a painful meeting… He was with Robin of course, just beginning to show the telltale signs of pregnancy. Cordelia avoided looking at that.

Of course she could have a room in the barracks, no questions asked. Chrom seemed to pick up on the fact that she didn’t want to talk about it…

Of course it was Tharja’s room. Now empty, save for the memory of their first time together… Cordelia didn’t dwell on that. Instead, she found the bed, neatly made, but with nothing else in the room, and collapsed down into it, drifting off into sleep…

 

When she woke, she set to training. Finding a sturdy lance, Cordelia easily fell into routine, as if she’d never left in the first place… Thrusts, slashes, ground maneuvers. Best to start with that, before training her new Pegasus.

Morning drifted into afternoon. Her muscles ached as she continued her old routine, alone in the training yard. Too clumsy! Too slow!

She needed to be better! She’d been a poor lover, and a poor friend! She had to succeed at SOMETHING!

  “Cordelia?” A voice asked, and she spun around to see Chrom joining her in the yard. She stood at silent attention.   
  “Yes, my Lord!”

  “Relax with the formalities.” Chrom said, “I think we’re beyond that,”

He stopped a few feet away from her.   
  “Are… you alright? I wasn’t really expecting you back at all… I mean, weren’t you all set up at your parents old place? And what about Tharja?”   
  “She went home.” Cordelia said, and Chrom raised an eyebrow.   
  “Really? The way she told it, she hated her Mother.”

Cordelia froze.   
  “She told you about that?”

  “I like to get to know my soldiers, you know that.” Chrom said, and Cordelia vaguely remembered seeing Chrom sitting beside Tharja in the mess hall a few times.   
  “Did you know about her role in the assault on the Halidom?” She asked bitterly. Chrom’s expression darkened.   
  “It was… one of the first things she shared with me…” He admitted. “The night after Emmeryn… she came into my tent. I was actually wondering if she was going to try and kill me. Frederick seemed to think so but… actually she’d come to talk. She thanked me for letting her join up, and… well, she told me about what operations she was involved in. She told me that she didn’t see a point in having secrets. It would undermine trust, and she didn’t want to get killed because I didn’t trust her…”   
  “And you were fine with it?” Cordelia asked venomously.   
  “No… but what else could I have been?” Chrom replied. He raised an eyebrow, shocked at the venom in Cordelia’s voice. “She didn’t have much of a choice in the matter… I told her that, if there was an operation that was too personal to her, I’d let her stand down. She never asked me for that. I respected that. I don’t suppose we’re really friends, but… I admired her for what she was. A damn good soldier.”

Cordelia gripped her lance tighter.   
  “So this whole time… you knew everything…”

  “It was her story to share, not mine!” Chrom insisted, “I…” He paused, “I know some people… you especially might not take well to it… Robin told me to keep silent. She said that we needed to be united as a team, not divided by our history… as for after the war, well… Again, it was her story to share, not mine.”

Cordelia avoided his eyes, staring at a brick on the wall.   
  “It… It broke you up, didn’t it?” Chrom asked, and Cordelia paused.   
  “Robin um… she thinks you’re…”

  “We were.” Cordelia said weakly.    
  “You found out the hard way, didn’t you?”

Cordelia nodded.   
  “I… I wonder if maybe she was afraid to tell you because of that. I mean… she had to know what it meant to you, right?”

More silence from Cordelia.   
  “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be prying.”

  “No. It’s fine.” Cordelia said tonelessly. A single tear appeared in her eye.   
  “I ruined it… didn’t I?”

Chrom had no answer for that. 


	16. Life After

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Returning to Ylisse, Tharja tries to build a life for herself without Cordelia... and confronts Sumia over what happened...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW for graphic depictions of violence and attempted murder.

The sun was beaming down as the carriage drew near to Cordelia’s home. Tharja wasn’t sure what she’d even find… In her heart of hearts, she didn’t expect Cordelia to be waiting there. Passing the time and twiddling her thumbs wasn’t her style. At best, perhaps she’d still be working on Sumia’s farm…

_ Or worse… With Sumia… _

She dismissed that thought immediately… While there were words to be spoken, Tharja wanted to do that in her own time. 

Maybe what they had really was over. Maybe there was no way back from what they’d both done. If so… Tharja supposed she could find peace in that… Love had been elusive to her. But she’d be damned if she didn’t act like a proper adult about it. Her rage, and there would be rage, could take a back seat for just this once… 

At the house, the carriage came to a stop, and Tharja stared at it quietly. No signs of life inside. No Pegasus in the barn. It didn’t take an expert to deduce that Cordelia was not here.

For a moment, Tharja almost took comfort in that… There was a delay to the conversation that needed to happen. She was fine with that. Letting out a tired sigh, she looked across the field towards Sumia’s farm.

She had no expectations of seeing Cordelia there, nor interest in going… and yet… the carriage she now sat on wasn’t her own. The horse pulling it was, she’d picked it up in town, after her defeat of her Mother, and come back home one last time for the carriage, to no greeting or goodbye. That was fine with her. All she really needed was the horse anyways.

Tharja sighed, and urged the beast towards the farmhouse. No way around it. The carriage needed to be returned. 

 

She’d hoped that perhaps Sumia’s Mother or Father would be the one to greet her… No such fortune. Sumia herself was in the padlock of grazing Pegasi, and looked up as the carriage drew near. She and Tharja locked eyes as she brought the carriage towards the barn, and Tharja almost hoped Sumia would stay where she was.

This was a confrontation she hadn’t prepared for… This was a confrontation she dreaded…

Dismounting the carriage, she set about freeing her horse from it. The crunch of boots on gravel made her narrow her eyes, as she knew who it was… and she felt someone on the other side of the horse helping unhitch it.

The work, brief as it was, was dead silent.

Newly freed, Tharja’s black steed trotted away to find a spot to graze, and some water to drink. Perhaps even new friends to socialize with, and as it did, Tharja was treated to the sight of Sumia across from her.

Their eyes met, and there were no words.   
  “Thank you…” Sumia said finally, breaking the silence.   
  “Mother didn’t deserve it.” Tharja replied, turning to leave. She heard Sumia following her.   
  “Wait… Um… Do you want to come in?”

Tharja paused.   
  “Why would I want that?”

  “You must be tired. It’s a long journey from Plegia.”

More silence from Tharja as she weighed her options.   
  “You’d allow a murderer in your house?” She asked. A loaded question.   
  “We’re all murderers, aren’t we?” Sumia asked, “But… we just call ourselves soldiers, so we don’t have to think about it, and say it wasn’t really us… So… I guess from one murderer to another, do you want to have a piece of pie?”

Tharja thought it over, before letting out a sigh.   
  “Sure…” 

She watched as Sumia turned, and headed inside, then slowly followed. The inside of the farmhouse was pleasant, rustic and cozy, far different from anything she’d ever seen in Plegia. Tharja stood by the door and took it in, watching Sumia intently, as she made her way into the small kitchen and cut a few slices from an already cut pie. Two fair sized ones, equal and perfect, and served them each on an identical plate.

  “Sit!” She offered, and Tharja did as asked, watching as Sumia took the first bite. The girl seemed… at ease, all things considered… had Cordelia not told her?

  “Cordelia’s not here?” Tharja asked. Sumia chewed slowly.   
  “No… She returned to the Halidom. I… I think it was painful for her to stay… Knowing her, she’s probably most comfortable with a lance in her hand anyways.”

  “Sounds like her…” Tharja said, quietly, and picked at her slice of pie. She caught Sumia looking at her, and looked right back at her.

For a moment, neither moved.   
  “I… I’m sorry…” Sumia finally said.   
  “For what?”   
  “You know what?”

  “Then why are we eating pie together?”

Sumia was silent for a few moments.    
  “I… I don’t know how else to say it… Pie… Pie’s easy, I guess… S-something to share, everyone likes it!”

  “And so that’s easier than an apology?”

  “For me, yes…” Sumia said, and set her fork down.   
  “I… I don’t… I crossed a line… I knew what you were…”

  “Sex is an act of mutual consent. You want to tell me you raped her?”

  “No!” Sumia said suddenly, “No! I’d never! I… I couldn’t…”

Tharja felt a stab of remorse. That implication had not been one she’d wanted to make.   
  “I… Cordelia and I have a very long history… Maybe I always thought of her that way… maybe I… Maybe I just realized it one day and, after that it’s hard to look back… I was mad at you, I suppose. We both wanted Chrom and with him gone… with what we already had… Heh… It would’ve made sense, wouldn’t it?”

  “Perhaps.” Tharja said, staring her down. Sumia avoided her eyes.   
  “I… I can’t justify it to you, can I?” She asked.   
  “Don’t worry… I don’t think Cordelia could either.” Tharja said, “What you both did… What she did… I’m not sure what to make of it… You… I want to hate you… On the way up here, I thought about killing you. Hexing you until you bled, and broke and died… Do you have any idea how easy it would be? I could do it, and no one would ever know. I could be gone before they found you, and it would be attributed to heat stroke, an undiagnosed health condition, a Pegasus you couldn’t calm down… choking on a piece of pie…”

Sumia went pale.   
  “I thought about that… Where I learned that… It’s what my Mother would have done… Did Cordelia tell you about her?”

  “Not much.” Sumia admitted in a weak voice.   
  “I suppose she had nothing nice to say… I can only imagine she left a bitter taste in her mouth, as she does in mine… She always got her way through pain, threats, torture… even me, her own Daughter…”

Tharja sighed, and speared a piece of pie on her fork, taking a bite.   
  “What kind of role model is that for a girl to grow up with… The first choice I ever made in my life that was entirely mine, was leaving Gangrel’s army. After that, every inkling of my being has been filled with doubt. I trusted Robin, of course. Only because I saw her superiority. Maybe I recognize a kindered spirit in her, even if she doesn’t know it. Something in her eyes, perhaps… I would very much like to know where she came from, before she lost her memories… Something tells me, our stories would be similar… This pie is quite good, by the way…”

  “Hmm” Sumia looked at her again, watching as Tharja took another bite, like it was the most casual thing in the world.   
  “But aside from Robin, I doubted everything. I doubted you, the others… and when I was alone in that cottage, I thought I was going to die, and I was okay with that… as okay as one can be… Then Cordelia came for me… She rescued me, and put so much on the line for me… even her own life… How does one doubt that? I don’t think anyone had ever shown me so much care in my life… so much regard as to whether I lived or died, and not merely as an asset, as a human being… It’s why I fell in love with her…” Tharja admitted.    
  “Seeing her again, my Mother… I realized something… I never could have trusted her like that. All I’ve ever felt for her was that same doubt. And when I saw her system starting up again, I couldn’t go back… I suspect if we ever see each other again, one of us will die.”

She said it so nonchalantly, like it barely bothered her.   
  “Either I will kill her, or she will kill me… I suppose I had my chance when I left. She tried to stop me with force, and… had I not defeated her, I believe she would’ve taken my life… I don’t know what to make of my life here now, but it’s all I’ve got… and the further away I got from that Woman, the more of her influence I felt on me… Part of me still wants to kill you Sumia… and out of spite for that part, I’m not going to lay a finger on you… On the contrary… I forgive you, because I don’t want to be that person. Because the blame isn’t solely yours… Because deep down, I think you’re just like Cordelia, and regardless of what I feel now… I can’t hate you for that.”

Tharja took one more bite of pie, and watched Sumia’s reaction.

The girl regarded her in silence, before letting out a sigh. She seemed to deflate a little, and let out a sound between a laugh and a sob. Her head sank down to the table, right beside her pie, and her shoulders heaved.

Tharja just watched.    
  “I’m sorry, Tharja…” Sumia moaned, “I’m sorry… I’m sorry… I… I’m so, so sorry… I…”

She broke down, and Tharja continued to watch in silence, letting it happen. After a while, she rose, and put a hand on Sumia’s shoulder.   
  “Whatever words I have… I will have with Cordelia… But I can’t hate you right now… I can’t… For so many reasons, and even though I want to… I’m making a choice… But from here on out, you define what our relationship becomes… because I  _ want  _ to hate you…  _ and if you give me a reason… _ ”   
  “I won’t!” Sumia cried, tensing up. “I… I won’t… I swear I won’t…”

Tharja patted her on the shoulder, and then pulled away.   
  “Thank you for the pie, Sumia…” She said softly, “I hope you have a wonderful day.”

With that… She walked out the door.

 

Tharja led her horse to Cordelia’s house, and stopped just outside the door, staring at it for the longest time.

She had the key. She could go in, without a problem… it would be easy…

It would be easy to walk in.

And it would be so very hard.

She imagined the feel of Cordelia’s hand on hers. The smiles between them as they cooked, laughed, slept, fucked,  _ lived. _

A shiver ran down her spine.

_ I don’t understand… Why would she do that… _

Tharja closed her eyes, and exhaled a breath, then turned away.

She’d find a room in town. 

 

Life continued. 

In two days time, Tharja was back at her stand. Her horse was in the livery, and her life's savings were all that kept her afloat. 

Old customers were happy to see her back. Her more benevolent hexes were welcomed, and it was admittedly rather nice to see that in the time she’d been gone, she hadn’t been forgotten…. Weeks passed by in tense comfort.

She saw Sumia in town a few times. They never spoke, but their eyes still met. Even if Tharja said she’d chosen not to hate her… they both knew she’d never truly had a choice… She’d only chosen not to act on it, and they both knew that… They never spoke. Never did anything more than look at each other. Sorrow from one, disgust from the other.

Weeks became a month. Tharja slept on a bed in the inn every night, saving up her spare gold in the hopes of affording a property of her own. In the evenings, she spoke with realtors, making plans. Bankers, creating her nest egg, and bartenders, to help her forget everything before this life. 

In the night, she’d hug a pillow, and think about clean red hair and soft skin. Soft lips on her own… 

It was after the first month, where she finally caved and bought a prostitute. She was a redhead, but thicker in build and older. Her touch was calloused and rough. In the end, Tharja hadn’t been able to go through with it, and had simply made her sleep, and believe what she wanted the next morning.

 

She first noticed the looks of quiet disgust in the tavern. They were on unfamilar faces. Old soldier looking types, who glared at her and whispered. She glared back at them, drumming her fingers on the bar as she drank her wine. Her glare was enough to make theirs fade. She had no time for those who dwelled on the war… In all her time here, her nationality had never been a subject of debate. A few had asked what had became of Cordelia, and Tharja had been truthful. It hadn’t worked out, Cordelia was in Ylisstol, following her calling, and Tharja was here, following hers. She never said a single bad word about her, or Sumia. That secret didn’t need to enter public knowledge. 

 

She saw the men again in town the next day. One of them even approached her stall.   
  “What can I help you with.” Tharja asked calmly, her business persona hiding her discomfort at the burly man before her.   
  “What do you deal in?” The man asked, his voice dull and heavy, like metal scraped on rock. 

  “Hexes, mainly.” She replied, “But I have a selection of potions, charms and other things…”    
 “What about necromancy?” The man asked. Tharja frowned.   
  “Not a common request… But yes… Although I would warn against it… Speaking to the dead can be an emotional experience, and I can’t always control the outcome…”

  “Not speaking to the dead.” The man growled, “Bringing ‘em back…”

His eyes met hers.   
  “Even I can’t do that.” She said.   
  “Really? What a pity… I remember you, y’know… back in Ylisstol… I remember watching you kill my Brother… You struck him with a bolt of lightning…”

Tharja’s heart skipped a beat. She remembered… A similar looking man, who she’d barely noticed raising a sword and rushing her. She remembered opening her tome and summoning the spell, breaking through his armor… and the fading light in his eyes…

She was speechless.   
  “What, nothing to say, Witch?” The man asked coldly.   
  “I’m sorry for your loss.” She finally managed to say, almost as a whisper, “I… I can do a channeling, if you’d like… No charge, but…”

  “I don’t want a channeling!” The man snapped, “I want my brother back you bitch!”

Tharja took a step back, on her guard, but wary. She was outnumbered, and she didn’t know if these men were armed or not…   
  “War makes us do terrible things.” She said, after a while, “I… I can’t take back what I’ve done… I am sorry, about your Brother… But we were both soldiers.”

The man scoffed.   
  “Tell that to his wife and son.” He said, before turning away. He gestured to his friends, before leaving.

She could feel the eyes of the market square upon her. People looking… judging… Slowly, she returned to her stand, shaking slightly, and watched as the people disappeared. Why was everyone watching her…

They wouldn’t stop…

 

As nightfall came, Tharja quietly locked her things away. Business had died after that confrontation. No one had dared approach her stand… She’d never lied about her past, never truly hidden it, and yet no one had really asked either… Now, the moment it was out in the open, the world seemed to shun her.

Locking her supplies, Tharja let out a sign, and closed her eyes… What to do… Would this pass? She wasn’t sure. But she couldn’t afford to lose her income. Even with her modest nest egg, she wasn’t exactly living in squalor…

The thoughts gnawed at her as she made her way back to the inn, new fears she hadn’t even contemplated before. Bankruptcy, homelessness… there had to be solutions… Perhaps she’d see Anna around, or… an Anna… She was in good with one, so that should translate to being on good terms with all of them, right? Maybe she could even wander with one! They seemed to get in enough trouble as it was, maybe they’d hire her as a guard, and let her continue selling her hexes and charms alongside them. There were certainly worse ideas… She’d be fine, right?

As she was lost in thought, Tharja hadn’t heard the footsteps coming up behind her, not until it was too late…

A hand rested on her shoulder.   
  “Evening, Plegian Bitch…” A raspy, metallic voice said.

His fist caught her in the face before she could react.   
  “Get her arms!” The man said, and two of his buddies did just that. They were too strong to fight… too much for her to handle alone.

  “I’m gonna bleed you slow…” The man hissed, and she could see him unsheath a knife in the darkness, “Nobody’s gonna give a shit about the Plegian Bitch, especially not after we toss you in the river for the fish!”   
  “No… Stop…” Tharja protested, only to suffer another fist to the face, and another one. Bright pinpricks of light dotted her vision, and she felt the knife against her chest.   
  “Shame to do it so soon…” One of the other men said, “A nice, tight little thing like that…”

_ NO! _

  “You’d trust her?” Another asked, “She’s probably got some sorta hex on her body… I say cut her throat, and be done with it…”

  “I got a wife, and I ain’t keen on cheating with the likes of her.” The Metallic Voiced Man growled, his knife going lower.   
  “In the gut… make her bleed… But only when I say she’s had enough, and you know what…”

Another punch, this time in the stomach, and Tharja’s knees buckled.   
  “I’m gonna take my time with her… for my FUCKING. BROTHER!” Every screamed word was punctuated by another punch to the face, and her assailant gestured to the side.   
  “Bring her behind the Inn… We can finish up with her there…”   
  “No…” Tharja rasped, mouth filled with blood. She was dragged to the spot of her execution, too weak to fight, and feeling oh so very sleepy.   
  “I’m sorry… I… I had no…”   
  “I don’t care…” The man growled, “I really don’t…”

She saw the spot up ahead. Dark, lonely, perfect for a murder. Her heart raced in fear, and her legs trembled.   
  “No… No… Please no…” She murmured, tears streaming down her face. The man struck her in the back of the head.   
  “SHUT THE FUCK UP!”

  “Godsdamnit just cut her thrice damned throat!”

She was thrown against the wall, head striking the stone, and she could hear the chatter of the Inn inside. She could see her soon to be killer standing over her, and felt his knee connect with her face, breaking her nose. He seized her by the hair, slamming his meaty fist into her head again, and again, and again until her ears rang.

No one was coming…

She was going to die like this…

Tharja tried to raise a hand, only to have it forced away, and recieve a punch for her defiance, and then her murderer turned away, panting heavily. The knife gleamed in his hand.   
  “Get her up… Let’s do this…” He growled, and Tharja was forced onto her feet, dizzy and weak. Her murderer looked her dead in the eye, and smiled.

Then, she felt it… The blade penetrating her stomach. She screamed at the top of her lungs in sheer agony, and it was cut off by a hand pressed over her mouth.   
  “WHAT ARE YOU DOING?” A new voice called, and her soon to be murderer looked over in its direction. Footsteps rushed towards them, and he recoiled hastily, leaving his knife in Tharja’s body.

His buddies let her go, allowing her to collapse to the ground, and she heard the cry of a Pegasus.    
_ Cordelia? _

She saw her would be killer, illuminated in the lantern light beneath the shadow of a Pegasus. A hoof connected with his face, sending him to the ground. His leg twitched, and then stopped. 

One of his companions stumbled over his own feet to escape, and was followed by the other one. Her savior didn’t give chase. Instead, they rushed to her side, barely visible in the light.   
  “Oh Gods…” They whispered, and as they drew nearer… their features came into focus.

Not Cordelia.

Sumia. 

The world went black. 


End file.
